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A  BRIEF  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


BY 

CHARLES   B.  TODD 

Member  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
Author  of  ^'^  The  Story  of  the  City  of  New  York" 
The  Story  of  Washington,  the  National  Capital,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK   •:•   CINCINNATI   .:•   CHICAGO 
AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 


f!< 


Copyright,  1899,  hy 
Charles  B.  Todd. 


HIST.   OF    N.  Y. 

w.  p.  I 


PREFACE. 


This  volume  was  written  at  the  suggestion  of  public 
school  teachers  and  members  of  the  City  History  Club, 
as  a  text-book  for  use  in  the  public  and  private  schools 
of  New  York,  as  well  as  for  all  others  interested  in  the 
study  of  the  city's  striking  and  romantic  history.  It 
has  been  the  author's  aim  to  present  this  history  con- 
cisely, accurately,  impartially,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
weave  into  the  narrative  such  romantic  and  picturesque 
incidents,  such  details  of  manners,  customs,  and  domestic 
Hfe,  as  would  lend  it  local  color  and  render  the  picture 
clear  and  complete.  The  causes  which  led  to  the  found- 
ing of  the  city,  and  the  men  and  the  agencies  responsi- 
ble for  its  wonderful  growth,  have  not  been  forgotten. 

In  a  work  so  condensed  it  was  impossible  to  notice 
all  the  events  in  the  city's  history.  For  these  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  larger  and  more  elaborate  his- 
tories of  the  city  by  Mary  L.  Booth,  David  T.  Valen- 
tine, Martha  J.  Lamb,  William  L.  Stone,  Benson  J.  Los- 
sing,  the  "  Memorial  History  of  New  York,"  edited  by 
General  James  Grant  Wilson,  and  the  author's  larger 
work,  "The  Story  of  the  City  of  New  York."  For 
material  the  author  has  drawn  on  the  large  store  gath- 
ered for  his  "  Story  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  first  pub- 

3 


lished  in  1888,  together  with  important  data  collected 
since  that  work  was  issued.  His  principal  sources  have 
been  "  The  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New 
York,"  the  publications  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  the  "  Manual  of  the  Corporation,"  the  news- 
paper files,  diaries,  scrapbooks,  broadsides,  and  pam- 
phlets contained  in  the  libraries  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  the  New  York  PubHc  Library,  and 
the  library  of  Columbia  College,  to  all  of  which  he  has 
had  free  access.  Where  conflicting  accounts  of  the 
same  event  were  given,  he  has  chosen  that  which 
seemed  the  more  probable.  Above  all  things  he  has 
endeavored  to  write  impartially  and  without  bias. 

As  before  stated,  the  book  is  intended  primarily  for 
the  young.  Events  with  us  move  rapidly.  In  twenty 
years,  if  present  conditions  continue,  New  York  will 
surpass  London,  and  the  school  children  of  to-day  will 
then  hold  in  their  hands  the  destinies  of  the  greatest  city 
in  the  world.  If  they  become  familiar  with  the  history 
of  their  city  in  youth,  they  will  love  it,  will  take  an  in- 
terest in  its  affairs,  and  will  be  far  more  likely  to  guide 
its  destinies  aright. 

But  although  it  is  intended  for  the  young,  the  author 
hopes  that  his  little  book  will  appeal  to  the  great  mass 
of  citizens  who  have  but  little  time  for  reading,  and  to 
whom  the  larger  histories  are  sealed  books. 

C.  B.  T. 

New  York,  September  i,  1899. 


CONTENTS. 


I.    Introductory 7 

II.  The  Dutch  Dynasty— Peter  MiNurr     .        .     14 

III.  WouTER  Van  Twiller       .        .        .        .        .23 

IV.  Wilhelm  Kieft 29 

V.     Petrus  Stuyvesant 35 

VI.  Dutch  Manners  and  Customs         .        .        .52 

VII.  The  English  Colonial  Period        .        .        .75 

VIII.  The  English  Colonial  Period  {^Continued)  — 

Leisler's  Revolt S3 

IX.  The  Approach  of  the  Revolution.        .        .    99 

X.  The  People  under  British  Rule   .                .  109 

XI.  Throwing  off  the  British  Yoke    .        .        .136 

XII.  The  Battle  of  Long  Island    .        .        .        .151 

XIII.  The  Battle  of  Harlem  Heights    .        .        -174 

XIV.  New  York  in  the  Grasp  of  the  Invader     .  186 
XV.  New  York  the  Capital  City   .        .        .        .195 

XVI.    The  Growth  of  Parties 203 

XVII.  Her  Rise  to  Commercial  Power     .        .        .214 

XVIII.    The  Erie  Canal 220 

5 


6 

PAGE 

XIX.  The  Railroad 228 

XX.  Typical  New  York  Merchants    .        .        .  230 

XXI.  Ships  and  Sailors 240 

XXII.  New  York  in  the  Civil  War        .        .        .  250 

XXI II.  An  Old  Man's  Recollections  of  New  York  259 

XXIV.  A  Hundred  Years  of  Progress    .        .        .272 
XXV.  Greater  New  York 278 

XXVI.     Brooklyn 287 

XXVII.     The  Bronx 290 

Index 295 


'^lIFOR^i^ 


1.    INTRODUCTORY. 

ALL  things  must  have  a  beginning,  and  our  city  of 
^  New  York,  now  so  rich  and  great,  began  in  a  very 
sniall  way  indeed.  If  we  had  been  at  the  Battery  on  the 
eighteenth  day  of  March,  away  back  in  1524,  we  should 
probably  have  seen  there  a  group  of  savages  clad  in  skins, 
with  bows  in  their  hands,  and  a  quiver  full  of  arrows  slung 
over  their  shoulders,  intently  watching  a  white  speck 
that  became  larger  every  moment.  Very  soon  it  grew 
into  a  birdlike  thing  that  swept  on  as  gracefully  as  a 
swan.  It  was  the  first  white  man's  sail  the  Indians 
had  ever  seen — that  of  the  Dolphin,  belonging  to 
his  Majesty  Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  and  sailed  by 
a  brave  sailor  and  discoverer,  Jean  Verrazano  of 
Florence. 

The  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  thirty-two 
years  before,  had  aroused  the  cupidity  as  well  as  tlie 
curiosity  of  the  seafaring  nations  of  Europe, — the  Eng- 
lish, Spanish,  Dutch,  French,  and  Portuguese, — and 
they  were  now  sending  out  ships  and  sailors  to  discover, 
explore,  and  take  possession  of  the  new  land.  They 
thought,  in  their  ignorance,  that  this  land  was  a  part  of 
India,  and  that  all  the  treasures  of  India  were  hidden  in 
its  savage  and  unknown  interior. 

Verrazano  was  one  of  these  discoverers  who  had  been 

7 


8 

sent  out  by  the  King  of  France.  If  he  followed  the 
usual  course  of  such  adventurers  on  discovering  a  new 
country,  he  landed  in  state,  with  standard  and  cross, 
father   confessor  and   men   at   arms,  and   planting  the 


Manhattan  Island  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

cross  and  the  royal  arms  of  France,  he  stood  beside  the 
cross  with  head  bared,  and  repeated  a  formula  by  which 
he  took  possession  of  the  entire  country  in  the  name  of  his 
royal  master.  He  then  sailed  away,  making  no  attempt 
to  settle  the  new  land.  Nor  was  any  ever  made  by 
Francis,  who  soon  became  engaged  in  war  with  the  Em- 
peror Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain — ^a  war  which  ended  in 
the  utter  defeat  of  Francis  at  Pavia,  and  in  his  being 
carried  a  prisoner  to  Spain.  Any  title  he  might  have 
had  to  our  shores  by  virtue  of  his  first  discovery  lapsed 
because  of  his  failure  to  settle  them. 

Nearly  a  hundred  years  passed  before  another  vessel 


sailed  into  our  bay — at  least,  so  far  as  we  have  any 
record.  But  at  last,  on  a  mellow  autumn  day  in  Sep- 
tember, 1609,  a  clumsy,  odd-looking  craft  entered  the 
Narrows  and  anchored  in  the  mouth  of  the  river.  She 
had  a  stern  much  higher  than  her  bows,  a  high,  carved 
prow,  and  carried  square  sails  on 
the  two  masts  of  a  schooner 
she   flew   a   pe- 

1I11"1tT 

culiar  flag,  new     i||||| 

to  the  nations,  of  'llfilllpilHi   •  -:t;^  ^ 

'|v'"  — ^-     / 


three  horizontal 

stripes,    orange,      '////,;/// /:;.-   "v 

white,  and  blue — the      _  ^ 

Dutch    flag.       The 

name  Half  Moon      ^  _ 

was    painted   on    '^-^^^^^^^^^^'^■^^  ^'^- '      '^ 

her  stern.  '^^^^M;^^ '~^    - 

Before       de-  ~-"^       ^ 

scribing  her  mission  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  word  or 
two  of  the  people  who  had  sent  her  out.  The  Dutch 
were  descended  from  those  rude  tribes,  the  Belgae, 
Batavi,  and  Frisians,  of  whom  Caesar  speaks.  Later  the 
conquering  Franks  and  Saxons  introduced  a  more  refined 
and  intellectual  stock,  which  had  grown  to  wealth  and 
power  under  the  successive  rule  of  the  wise  Charle- 
magne, the  lords  and  bishops  of  the  feudal  ages,  and  the 
strong  kings  of  the  house  of  Burgundy.  Next  these 
states  came  under  the  rule  of  Charles  V.,  and  of  his  son 
and  successor,  Philip  II.,  the  latter  of  whom  governed 
them  so  harshly  that  seven  provinces,  a  few  years  be- 
fore our  story  opens,  revolted  and  formed  a  republic, 


lO 

Philip  sought  to  subdue  them,  and  a  long  and  bitter  war 
followed,  which  had  been  closed  six  months  before  the 
Half  Moon  sailed,  by  a  truce  of  twelve  years  signed  by 
both  parties.  You  can  read  all  about  it  in  Mr.  Motley's 
interesting  work,  "The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic." 

The  Dutch  government  was  republican  in  form,  but 
far  more  complex  than  is  our  own  system.  The  genius 
of  the  country  was  almost  wholly  commercial,  but  it 
was  a  nation  of  great  merchants,  not  shopkeepers ;  its 
trade  extended  over  the  known  earth;  it  had  on  the 
seas  at  this  time  three  thousand  ships  and  one  hundred 
thousand  sailors,  and  enjoyed  a  trade  of  sixteen  millions 
of  pounds  per  annum — far  more  than  England's,  which 
was  but  six  millions.  Its  East  India  Company,  founded 
to  secure  the  trade  of  India  and  the  East,  was  the  rich- 
est and  greatest  trading  company  then  on  the  globe. 
It  had  a  rival  in  the  Enghsh  East  India  Company,  which 
had  been  chartered  nine  years  before,  and  which,  though 
not  then  so  strong,  was  destined  in  a  few  years  to  sup- 
plant it.  Both  companies  were  very  anxious  to  find  a 
short  passage  to  India.  Such  a  passage  was  believed  to 
extend  around  the  northern  shores  of  Europe  and  Asia. 
The  Dutch  company  had  fitted  out  the  Half  Moon  to 
discover  it,  but  had,  strangely  enough,  given  her  in 
charge  of  an  Englishman,  a  famous  navigator  of  those 
times,  named  Henry  Hudson. 

Hudson,  as  you  will  find,  was  not  here  for  settlement, 
but  as  a  discoverer,  an  adventurer.  He  ascended  the 
Hudson  nearly  to  Albany,  stopped  to  trade  at  various 
points  with  the  Indians,  returned,  and  sailed  out  of  the 
Narrows  again,  leaving  his  own  name  to  our  noble  river. 


It 

the  Hudson.  Two  years  Later,  in  l6ii,  the  great 
Dutch  navigator  Adriaen  Block  sailed  through  Long 
Island  Sound,  discovering  the  shores  of  Connecticut 
and  visiting  Manhattan  Island,  which  had  been  thus 
named  from  the  tribe  of  Indians  living  on  it.  Block 
published  a  very  graphic  account  of  his  voyage  ;  but  the 
haughty  East  India  Company,  having  failed  to  find  a 
passage  to  India  through  the  new  continent,  took  no 
further  interest  in  it. 

There  were  some  shrewd  merchants  in  Amsterdam, 
however,  not  shareholders  in  the  East  India  Company, 
who  saw  what  a  rich  trade  in  furs  and  other  merchan- 
dise might  be  built  up  with  the  new  country,  and  they 
formed  a  trading  company,  which  was  chartered  by  the 
States-General,  the  executive  or  working  branch  of  the 
Dutch  government.  They  built  a  fort  and  trading  house 
on  Manhattan  Island,  and  another  on  an  island  in  the 
Hudson  near  the  present  site  of  Albany. 

Their  charter  was  limited  to  three  years,  counting 
from  January  I,  1615,  and  although  they  enjoyed  a 
profitable  trade,  they  made  no  permanent  settlement. 
This  charter  is  noteworthy  from  the  fact  that  in  it  the 
country  was  first  called  New  Netherlands. 

But  in  Amsterdam  a  company  was  assuming  form 
that  was  destined  to  effect  both  settlement  and  con- 
quest. It  was  of  slow  growth,  because  many  people 
objected  to  granting  it  a  charter  conferring  such  enor- 
mous powers  as  its  promoters  asked  for ;  but  at  last,  on 
June  3,  1 62 1,  the  very  year  the  truce  with  Sp  nn  ended, 
the  States- General  chartered  it  under  the  name  of  the 
West  India  Company." 


12 

Perhaps  no  body  of  merchants  was  ever  invested 
with  such  enormous  powers  and  privileges  as  this  com- 
pany possessed.  It  was  a  private  company,  and  yet  in 
many  respects  a  sovereign  state.  It  could  contract 
alliances,  declare  war,  make  peace,  administer  justice, 
appoint  or  dismiss  governors,  judges,  and  servants,  build 
forts,  ships,  cities — in  fact,  do  anything  necessary  to  pro- 
mote trade  and  secure  stability.  To  these  powers  was 
added  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  for  the  Atlantic  coasts 
of  Africa  and  America.  Its  leaders  promised  not  only 
to  carry  on  trade,  but  to  attack  Spain  in  her  American 
colonies  and  to  capture  her  ships  on  the  high  seas,  and 
for  this  reason  were  given  such  extensive  powers.  It 
had  a  capital  of  twelve  million  florins  (nearly  five  million 
dollars  of  our  money),  and  its  affairs  were  managed  by 
five  chambers,  or  boards,  distributed  among  the  differ- 
ent cities  of  Holland,  the  chamber  of  Amsterdam  being 
the  most  important.  The  States-General  further  gave  it 
a  grant  of  the  whole  magnificent  territory  discovered  by 
Hudson,  on  condition  that  it  **  should  advance  the  peo- 
pling of  it." 

The  company  erected  this  grant  into  a  province  and 
committed  its  affairs  to  the  chamber  of  Amsterdam, 
while  the  other  chambers  were  to  devote  their  attention 
to  prosecuting  the  war  against  Spain  ;  and  very  success- 
ful they  were,  too,  capturing  Bahia  in  1624,  the  **  great 
silver  fleet,"  conveying  treasure  from  the  South  Ameri- 
can mines,  in  1628,  and  the  rich  city  of  Pernambuco  in 
1630.     All  Netherlands  rang  with  their  exploits. 

Meantime,  reminded  by  jealous  rivals,  the  Amster- 
dam chamber  did  not  forget  the  savage  island  and  the 


13 

"fruitful  and  unsettled  parts"  in  the  West,  that  its 
charter  obliged  it  to  settle,  but  made  an  attempt  at  set- 
tlement by  sending  out  thirty  Walloons  to  New  Nether- 
lands, directing  that  eight  should  remain  and  found  a 
trading  post  at  Manhattan,  while  the  remaining  twenty- 
two  should  go  up  the  Hudson  to  Fort  Nassau,  near 
Albany,  and  make  a  settlement  there.  This  was  in 
1624,  and  these  Walloons,  residents  of  the  frontier  be- 
tween France  and  Flanders,  and  distinguished  for  their 
valor  and  military  spirit,  were  the  first  settlers  of  our 
great  city.  Next  year,  however,  the  company  set  about 
its  task  in  earnest,  advertising  for  **  adventurers  "  to  the 
New  World,  and  offering  free  passage,  employment,  and 
other  inducements,  insomuch  that,  toward  the  close  of 
the  year,  three  large  ships  and  a  **  yacht "  sailed  for 
Manhattan^  carrying  forty-five  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, with  household  goods,  farming  tools,  and  one 
hundred  and  three  head  of  cattle.  At  the  same  time 
the  company  began  framing  a  government  for  the  new 
colony,  and  appointed  a  **  director,"  or,  as  we  should  say, 
a  governor,  for  it. 


II.   THE   DUTCH   DYNASTY— PETER  MINUIT. 


THE  director  chosen  was  Peter  Minuit  of  Wesel 
in  Westphalia,  an  old  servant  of  the  East  India 
Company.  He  had  had  experience  in  governing  new 
countries,  and  this,  with  a  kind,  conciliating  disposition 
and  an  inborn  faculty  for  governing,  made  him  one  of 
the  very,  best  persons  for  the  place  that 
could  have  been  chosen.  He 
left  Amsterdam  in  De- 
cember, 1625,  in  a 
ship  called  the  Sea 
^  Mezv  and  bearing  a  large 
number  of  colonists. 
With  great  joy  the  busy  set- 
tlers at  Manhattan  on  May  4,  1626, 
beheld  her  furl  sail  and  come  to 
anchor  off  the  Battery.  A  very  different 
aspect  the  island  presented  to  Minuit 
from  that  it  now  bears.  Primeval  for- 
ests hid  the  Jersey  shore  and  the  outline  of  Manhat- 
tan. A  range  of  low,  craggy  hills  covered  with  forests 
stretched  through  the  center  of  the  island  from  the 
Battery  to  Spuyten  Duyvil.  There  were  pretty  grassy 
valleys  between,  and  along  the  shores  wide  marshes 
stretched  away  to  the  north.    At  the  present  Canal  Street 

14 


Manhattan 


15 

they  extended  quite  across  the  island,  so  that  at  very 
high  tides  the  waters  of  the  East  River  flowed  over 
into  the  Hudson.  In  slieltered  valleys  under  the  crags 
were  the  cornfields  and  bark  wigwams  of  the  Indians 
and  the  rude  log  cabins  of  the  settlers.  Cow  paths 
crossed  the  marshes  and  wound  in  and  out  between 
the  crags,  often  penetrating  dense  thickets  of  black- 
berry vines,  creepers,  grapevines,  and  bushes.  Wolves, 
bears,  and  panthers  lurked  in  these  recesses.  In  their 
letters  home  the  people  often  complained  of  the  deer 
and  wild  turkeys  that  broke  in  and  ate  up  their  crops. 
As  his  first  step  Minuit  had  been  directed  to  purchase 
the  island  of  its  Indian  owners.  He  therefore  called  a 
conference  of  the  chiefs  and  head  men,  probably  before 
he  disembarked  his  company.  You  will  find  in  Died- 
rich  Knickerbocker's  **  History  of  New  York  "  a  very 
amusing  account  of  the  transaction  ;  but  Knickerbocker's ' 
sense  of  humor  often  played  havoc  with  his  historical 
accuracy.  The  scene  as  it  actually  occurred  lacked  no 
element  of  the  strange  and  picturesque.  On  one  side 
were  the  Hollanders,  in  long-skirted  coats,  some  loose, 
some  girt  at  the  waist  with  a  military  sash, '  velvet 
breeches  ending  at  the  knee  in  black  Holland  stock- 
ings, and  on  their  feet  high  military  boots  with  wide- 
spreading  tops.  Their  black  hats  of  felt  were  low  in 
the  crown,  with  wide  brims  which  were  looped  up, 
with  rosettes  or  not  at  the  fancy  of  the  wearer.  A 
short  sword  was  suspended  in  a  sash  drawn  over  the 
right  shoulder  and  passing  under  the  left  arm,  but 
otherwise  the  Hollanders  were  without  weapons.  Op- 
posed to  these  stern,  warlike  men  were  the  unkempt, 


i6 

long-haired  savages,  clad  in  deerskins  or  waist  belts  of 
woven  grass.  Between  the  two  stood  a  great  sea  chest 
with  the  lid  open,  revealing  therein  ribbons,  beads,  but- 
tons, gayly  embroidered  coats,  and  similar  articles,  which 
were  taken  out  one  by  one  and  shown  the  delighted 
savages,  who  were  only  too  glad  to  give  their  island  in 


Purchase  of  Manhattan  Island. 

exchange  for  the  glittering  baubles.  We  can  hardly 
believe  that  the  ground  on  which  our  opulent  city  now 
stands  was  first  bought  for  goods  worth  twenty-four 
dollars  of  our  money. 

In  the  midst  of  savage  and  fief  Minuit  now  set  up  his 
orderly  government.  It  was  unique  in  many  respects, 
quite  different  from  that  of  the  New  England  colonies 
on  the  east,  who  lived  under  charters  granted  by  the 
King  of  England  and  had  their  own  legislature,  which, 
being  composed  of  men  elected  by  themselves,  acted  as 
a  check  on  the  royal  governor.  The  director,  himself 
the  servant  of  the  company,  enjoyed  absolute  power, 
except  that  he  could  not  inflict  the  death  penalty.     The 


17 

people  had  also  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  home  cham- 
ber,  and  from  its  decision  to  the  States-General.  An 
advisory  council  of  five  of  the  wisest  men  of  the  colony 
was  also  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor,  to  whose 
advice  he  was  to  give  due  weight.  There  were  but  two 
other  officers  of  the  colony,  the  secretary  of  the  coun- 
cil and  the  schout  fiscal,  the  latter  as  great  a  figure  in 
the  early  history  of  Manhattan  as  the  director  himself; 
for  he  was  State's  attorney,  sheriff,  constable,  and  tax 
collector,  and  beadle  and  tithingman  on  Sundays.  He 
begaa  the  Lord's  day  by  preceding  the  members  of 
the  council  to  church,  and  during  divine  service  pa- 
trolled the  streets  to  see  that  no  tapster  profaned  the 


New  Amsterdam. 


day  by  selling  schnapps,  and  no  negro  slave  or  Indian 
by  gaming. 

The  people  in  general  were  mere  fiefs,  or  servants,  of 
the  company.  They  could  not  own  land ;  they  could 
not  trade  with  the  Indians  or  among  themselves ;  they 

TODD,  N.  Y.— 2 


i8 

could  make  nothing,  not  even  what  they  wore  or  con- 
sumed, these  privileges  being  reserved  for  the  company. 
After  some  thirty  small  cabins  had  been  built  along  the 
East  River,  Minuit  and  his  engineer,  Kryn  Fredericke, 
built  a  fort  on  a  slight  elevation  near  where  Broadway 
now  enters  the  Battery,  and  called  it  Fort  Amsterdam. 
Then  the  busy  delvers  opened  quarries  in  the  neighbor- 
ing crags,  and  built  of  the  '*  Manhattan  stone  "  found 
there  a  warehouse  for  the  company's  stores  and  other 
property.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  had  the  tools  for 
building  a  windmill  after  the  fashion  of  their  fathers, 
and  so  built  a  horse  mill  for  grinding  grain.  For  a 
church  they  fitted  up  the  loft  of  the  horse  mill.  Minis- 
ter they  had  none,  but  the  company  had  sent  over  two 
zeikentroosters,  or  **  consolers  of  the  sick"  (what  we 
would  call  lay  readers),  who  read  to  them  from  the 
Bible  on  Sundays.  But  in  two  years  a  regularly  or- 
dained minister,  the  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelis,  arrived,  and 
the  little  colony  was  complete.  It  had  taken  eighteen 
years  to  found  the  settlement. 

Minuit  next  turned  his  attention  to  trading  with  the 
Indians,  and  sent  a  little  fleet,  composed  of  a  sloop,  the 
ship's  jolly-boat,  and  canoes,  up  the  Hudson  into  every 
bay  and  creek  where  an  Indian  lodge  could  be  seen, 
exchanging  axes,  knives,  beads,  and  gay  fabrics  for  furs 
and  wampum,  and  inviting  the  savages  to  come  down 
to  the  fort  and  trade  with  their  white  brothers.  Many 
came,  and  soon  tall,  gaunt  savages  in  skins  or  blankets, 
laden  with  bales  of  fur,  venison,  turkeys,  wild  fowl,  and 
other  game,  became  familiar  objects  in  the  streets  of 
New  Amsterdam ;  for  so  Minuit  had  named  his  infant 


19 

settlement.  Very  soon  about  the  company's  ware- 
house there  was  a  great  bustle  of  trade  indeed,  earnest 
of  the  forthcoming  greatness  of  the 
port. 

When  the  good  ship  Anns  of  Ajh- 
stcrdaui  sailed  for  home,  September 
23, 1626,  she  bore  '*  7,246 
beaver  skins,  178^  otter 
skins,  675  otter  skins,  48  minck 
skins,  36  wild-cat  skins,  33  minck 
skins,  34  rat  skins,  and  great  store  of 
oak  and  hickory  timber,"  the  whole 
valued  at  forty-five  thousand  guil- 
ders, or  some  nineteen  thousand  dol- 
lars. She  also  took  specimens  of  the 
"summer  grain  "  the  colonists  had  just  harvested,  viz., 
rye,  oats,  barley,  wheat,  beans,  flax,  buckwheat,  and 
canary  seed.  She  carried,  too,  news  of  the  birth  of 
Sarah  Rapalje,  the  **  first-born  Christian  daughter"  in 
New  Netherlands,  born  June  9,  1625. 

Minuit  knew  that  the  English  had  settled  on  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  and  he  soon  sent  letters  to  Governor 
Bradford  at  Plymouth,  proposing  trade.  The  governor 
replied  very  courteously,  saying  that  at  present  they  had 
need  of  nothing,  but  that  in  the  future  they  might,  "  if 
the  rates  were  reasonable."  At  the  same  time  he  gen- 
tly intimated  that  the  Dutch  were  on  English  soil 
unlawfully ;  for  England  claimed  the  whole  country 
between  New  England  and  Virginia  west  to  the  Pacific 
by  virtue  of  the  earlier  discoveries  of  her  sea  captains, 
Cabot,  John  Smith,  and  others.      On  a  receipt  of  this 


20 

Minuit  sent  his  beloved  secretary,  Isaac  de  Rasieres,  in 
the  bark  Nassau,  with  many  presents,  who  came  to 
Plymouth,  was  well  received  by  Governor  Bradford,  and 
spent  many  days  in  the  village,  being  treated  "  with 
courtesy  and  rare  good  will  "  by  the  Pilgrims,  and  lay- 
ing the  foundation  for  a  flourishing  trade  between  the 
two  colonies. 

New  Amsterdam  prospered,  however,  without  Eng- 
lish trade.  Six  bouweries,  or  farms,  were  opened  by 
the  company  in  the  open  meadows  along  the  East  River, 
and  stocked  with  sheep,  cattle,  hogs,  and  goats,  while 
additional  colonists  were  constantly  arriving  from  the 
fatherland.  In  1628  there  were  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty inhabitants.  By  1629  the  exports  had  risen  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  guilders,  and  the  imports 
to  one  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  (about  $45,200). 
But  neither  this  progress  nor  the  promise  of  future  rev- 
enues satisfied  the  directors  at  home,  and  after  some 
thought  they  hit  upon  a  plan  which  promised  larger 
and  quicker  returns.  Among  their  stockholders  were 
many  wealthy  merchants  who,  they  thought,  would 
prize  a  title  and  an  estate.  To  each  of  them  the  direct- 
ors said  in  effect :  "  If  you  will  at  your  own  expense 
establish  a  colony  in  our  territory  of  New  Netherlands 
we  will  grant  you  these  privileges :  a  title,  that  of 
patroon,  or  feudal  chief;  an  estate,  stretching  for  sixteen 
miles  along  one  bank  of  the  river,  or  for  eight  along 
both  banks,  and  extending  inland  as  far  as  you  can 
explore ;  exempt  you  and  your  people  from  taxation 
for  ten  years  ;  grant  you  free  trade,  except  in  furs,  which 
we  reserve  for  ourselves,  and  full  property  rights ;  pro- 


21 

tect  you  from  enemies,  and  supply  you  with  servants. 
You  shall  forever  possess  and  enjoy  these  lands,  with 
the  fruits,  rights,  minerals,  rivers,  and  fountains,  the 
fishing  and  fowling  and  grinding,  the  supreme  author- 
ity and  jurisdiction ;  and  if  you  found  cities,  you  shall 
have  authority  to  establish  for  them  officers  and  magis- 
trates. In  return  you  must  agree  to  satisfy  the  Indians 
for  the  land  taken ;  to  plant  a  colony  of  at  least  fifty 
souls  above  fifteen  years  of  age  within  four  years ;  to 
provide  a  minister  and  schoolmaster  for  the  colony  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  until  that  is  done  a  comforter  of 
the  sick.  You  may  take  up  the  lands  anywhere  except 
on  Manhattan  Island,  which  we  reserve  for  ourselves." 

Several  directors  and  others  accepted  these  terms, 
and  thus  came  into  being  those  great  feudal  manors  and 
patroonships  along  the  Hudson,  which  after  the  Revo- 
lution caused  much  trouble  and  discord,  because  in  con- 
flict with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  At  the  time  they  were 
given,  however,  they  wrought  both  good  and  evil : 
good  because  they  provided  schools  and  churches,  set- 
tled men  in  strong,  well-ordered  villages,  and  satisfied  the 
Indian  for  his  lands  ;  bad  in  that  they  introduced  human 
slavery,  monopoly  of  land,  and  aristocratic  privilege. 

The  first  great  patroonship  created  by  this  act  was 
that  of  Rensselaerwyck,  founded  in  1630  by  Kiliaen  Van 
Rensselaer,  a  pearl  merchant  of  Amsterdam  and  a 
director.  By  successive  purchases  of  the  Indians  he 
became  master  of  a  territory  twenty-four  miles  long  by 
forty-eight  wide,  of  an  estimated  area  of  seven  hundred 
thousand  acres.  Later  it  made  two  counties,  Albany  and 
Rensselaer,  and  part  of  another,  Columbia.     Michael  de 


12 

Pauw,  another  director,  finding  the  best  lands  on  the 
Hudson  taken,  purchased  in  June,  1630,  the  territory 
called  Hoboken-Hacking,  across  the  Hudson  from  New 
Amsterdam,  and  the  next  month  Staten  Island  and  the 
country  south  of  his  first  purchase,  now  known  as  Jersey 
City.  But  these  purchases,  which  included  the  more 
desirable  of  the  company's  lands,  aroused  the  jealousy 
of  the  other  directors  who  had  secured  none,  and  to 
appease  them  four  others  were  admitted  to  a  share  in 
Rensselaerwyck.  Settlers,  horses,  and  cattle  were  soon 
sent  to  the  latter,  and  in  a  few  years  it  was  a  flourishing 
village.  Pauw  founded  on  his  grant  a  village  which  he 
called  the  **  Commune,"  and  which  no  doubt  gave  its 
name  to  the  later  Communipaw. 

But  the  company  very  soon  found  that  the  patroons 
were  more  intent  on  trading  with  the  Indians  than  on 
clearing  and  cultivating  their  lands,  and  especially  that 
they  were  buying  and  selling  furs,  which  trade  had 
been  reserved  as  the  exclusive  right  of  the  company, 
and  a  bitter  quarrel  arose  over  the  matter  which  greatly 
hindered  the  growth  of  the  colony.  So  violent  did  it 
become  that  it  was  carried  to  their  High  Mightinesses 
the  States-General,  who  passed  laws  restricting  the 
privileges  of  the  patroons.  Minuit  had  ratified  the 
patroons'  grants,  and,  it  was  charged,  had  in  other 
ways  favored  them  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  and 
this,  with  some  minor  charges  of  extravagance,  led  to  his 
recall.  He  sailed  for  Holland  in  the  ship  Eeiidracht,  in 
the  spring  of  1632.  He  had  governed  the  infant  settle- 
ment for  six  years,  in  general,  it  must  be  admitted,  with 
wisdom,  sagacity,  and  prudence. 


III.    WOUTER   VAN   TWILLER. 

AND  now  the  directors  sat  in  their  great  oak-paneled 
^  chamber  in  Amsterdam  to  choose  a  new  governor. 
After  much  debate  they  fixed  on  Wouter  Van  Twiller  as 
the  man.  You  may  have  read  in  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker's "  History  of  New  York  "  that  author's  famous 
description  of  him.  **  He  was  exactly  five  feet,  six 
inches  in  height  and  six  feet  five  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence. His  head  was  a  perfect  sphere,  and  of  such  stu- 
pendous dimensions  that  Dame  Nature,  with  all  her  sex's 
ingenuity,  would  have  been  puzzled  to  construct  a  neck 
capable  of  supporting  it ;  wherefore  she  wisely  declined 
the  attempt,  and  settled  it  firmly  on  the  top  of  his  back- 
bone just  between  the  shoulders.  His  body  was  oblong 
and  particularly  capacious  at  bottom.  His  legs  were 
short,  but  sturdy  in  proportion  to  the  weight  they  had 
to  sustain ;  so  that,  when  erect,  he  had  not  a  little  the 
appearance  of  a  beer  barrel  on  skids." 

But,  burlesque  aside,  Van  Twiller  was  a  grotesque 
figure,  a  mountain  of  flesh,  slow  and  narrow  of  mind, 
with  a  petty  spirit,  and  a  burgomaster's  fondness  for 
good  dinners  and  sound  wine.  He  owed  his  selection 
to  the  powerful  patroon  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  whose 
niece  he  had  married,  and  who  desired  for  govenor  a 
person  attached  to  his  interests. 

23 


24 

Van  Twiller  arrived  early  in  April,  1633.  As  the 
ship's  boat  bore  him  and  his  retinue  ashore,  he  saw,  col- 
lected on  the  rude  wharf,  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred men  and  women  with  stolid  Dutch  faces,  the 
former  clad  in  baggy,  homespun  breeches  and  loose 
blouses  well  worn  and  toil-stained,  the  latter  in  kerchiefs 
and  short  gowns;  behind  them  a  group  of  Indians  look- 
ing curiously  on ;  and  beyond  these  crags  and  the  som- 
ber forest,  with  here  and  there  a  clearing  or  cornfield. 

The  director's  party  took  up  its  quarters  in  the  fort, 
in  the  houses  vacated  by  Minuit.  One  day  soon  after 
his  arrival,  as  he  sat  with  one  of  the  newly  arrived 
patroons,  De  Vries,  on  the  fort  parapet,  smoking  and 
chatting,  he  saw  a  vessel  pass  the  Narrows  and  come  up 
the  bay  with  all  sail  set,  round  to,  and  anchor  under  the 
guns  of  the  fort.  Her  straight  lines  and  clean,  shipshape 
appearance  would  have  proclaimed  her  nationality  even 
if  the  red  cross  of  England  had  not  flown  at  her  peak. 
Quickly  she  dispatched  a  boat  ashore  in  charge  of  an 
officer  in  resplendent  scarlet  uniform. 

"What  ship  is  that?"  growled  the  director,  as  the 
boat  grounded. 

"  The  William  of  London,  and  last  from  Boston," 
replied  the  officer,  doffing  his  hat  and  making  a  pro- 
found bow. 

"  Who  commands?  "  continued  the  director. 

"Jacob  Eelkens,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  know  the  varlet,"  said  De  Vries,  aside;  "he  was 
post  trader  at  Fort  Orange  for  the  first  company,  and 
was  discharged  for  petty  thieving.  Have  a  care,  your 
Excellency." 


/ 

"What  doeth  he  here?"  continued  the  director. 

"  Prithee,  he  would  trade  with  the  savage,"  replied 
the  envoy. 

Van  Tvviller  frowned.  Here  was  the  old  vexed  ques- 
tion of  English  rights  again;  like  Banquo's  ghost,  it 
would  not  down. 

"  He  hath  sent  me  to  present  his  compliments,"  con- 
tinued the  officer,  "and  to  invite  your  Excellency  and 
the  honorable  councilors  to  dine  with  him  to-morrow. 
He  bade  me  say  there  shall  be  no  lack  of  good  wine 
and  ale." 

"  Do  not  go,"  said  De  Vries ;  but  Van  Twiller  had  a 
weakness  for  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  accepted. 
Accordingly,  next  day  two  boats  conveyed  him,  his 
councilors,  and  De  Vries  to  the  William,  where  they 
were  received  with  due  state  and  ceremony.  At  the 
dinner  which  followed,  we  have  it  on  the  authority  of 
De  Vries,  the  songs  and  mad  capers  of  Van  Twiller  in 
his  cups  did  grievously  discredit  the  Dutch  government 
and  caused  the  English  to  laugh  at  his  authority. 

After  lying  five  days  before  the  fort  Eelkens  coolly 
announced  that  he  should  proceed  to  Fort  Orange  and 
trade  with  his  old  friends  the  Mohawks  there.  The 
conduct  of  Van  Twiller  on  receiving  this  startling  news 
shows  the  character  of  the  man.  He  invited  the  whole 
crew  of  the  William  into  the  fort,  and  to  overawe  them 
ran  up  the  tricolored  flag,  and  fired  a  salute  in  honor  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange.  But  Eelkens,  so  far  from  being 
frightened,  laughed  and  sent  his  gunner  on  board  the 
William,  with  orders  to  fire  a  whole  broadside  in  honor 
of  King  Charles;  then,  while  the  guns  were  still  thun- 


26 

dering,  he  hurried  aboard  with  his  crew,  weighed  anchor, 
and  sailed  up  the  river,  his  men  twirhng  their  thumbs  at 
the  Dutch,  who  stood  petrified  with  astonishment,  mak- 
ing no  attempt  to  hinder  them.  Van  Twiller  was  the 
first  to  recover  his  wits.  He  called  for  a  barrel  of  wine, 
broached  it,  and  invited  the  entire  populace — which  had 
come  running  to  the  spot  on  the  sound  of  the  guns — to 
join  him  in  drinking  it;  then,  made  valiant  by  the  wine, 
he  swung  his  hat  and  shouted :  "  All  ye  who  love  the 
Prince  of  Orange  and  me,  emulate  me  in  this,  and  aid 
me  in  repelling  the  violence  of  that  Englishman." 

As  soon  as  possible  three  armed  vessels  were  made 
ready,  and,  with  one  hundred  and  four  men  at  arms  on 
board,  the  director  stood  up  the  river  in  pursuit.  In  the 
meantime  JLelkens  had  arrived  at  a  point  about  a  mile 
below  Fort  Orange  (Albany),  where  he  raised  a  mar- 
quee, landed  his  cargo,  and  began  a  profitable  trade  with 
the  Mohawks,  who  were  delighted  to  meet  again  their 
old  friend  and  ally.  News  of  his  invasion  was  quickly 
carried  to  Houten,  the  Dutch  official  in  charge  of  Fort 
Orange,  and  he  hastened  down  in  his  shallop,  "  wreathed 
in  green  boughs,  with  a  trumpeter  making  stirring 
music,"  and  set  up  a  rival  booth  beside  the  interloper's, 
and  did  what  he  could  to  disparage  his  wares  and  hinder 
his  trade.  But  Eelkens  had  new  and  superior  goods, 
purchased  with  full  knowledge  of  what  the  Indians  re-, 
quired,  and  was  fast  disposing  of  his  cargo  when,  four- 
teen days  after  his  arrival,  the  Dutch  fleet,  which  we  left 
at  New  Amsterdam,  hove  in  sight. 

As  soon  as  its  commander  could  secure  the  aid  of  the 
soldiers  in  Fort  Orange  he  sailed  down  to  the  English 


27 

marquee,  and  commanded  Kelkens  to  take  his  goods  and 
begone  forthwith.  But  the  trader  not  responding  so 
quickly  as  lie  wished,  he  ordered  his  men  to  beat  and 
disperse  the  Indians  who  were  trading  with  him ;  then, 
unheeding  Eelkens's  protests  that  he  was  on  English 
soil  and  had  a  right  to  trade  there,  they  pulled  his  tent 
about  his  ears,  and  hurried  his  goods  on  board  the  Wt/- 
liam,  "  sounding  in  their  boat  meantime  a  trumpet  in 
disgrace  of  the  English."  Then  they  escorted  the  Wil- 
liam to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  or,  to  use  Eelkens's 
words :  **  The  Dutch  came  along  with  us  in  their  shal- 
lop, and  they  sticked  green  bowes  all  about  her,  and 
drank  strong  w^aters,  and  sounded  their  trumpet  in  a 
triumphing  manner  over  us."  Thus  a  second  time  the 
English  were  defeated  in  asserting  their  claim  to  the 
Hudson  ;  but  in  the  end  they  triumphed,  as  we  shall  see. 
Van  Twiller  soon  had  a  deeper  quarrel  on  his  hands, 
this  time  with  the  English  of  Plymouth  and  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  Both  nations  laid  claim  to  the  Connecticut 
River  and  its  rich  valley  lands,  the  Dutch  by  virtue  of 
Block's  discovery,  the  English  by  grant  of  their  king. 
To  strengthen  their  claim,  the  Dutch,  in  1632,  had  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians  the  lands  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  Van  Twiller  now  sent  his  commissary,  Jacob 
-Van  Curler,  to  buy  a  large  tract  on  the  upper  river,  on 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Hartford,  and  further 
built  there  a  trading  post  armed  with  two  cannon,  call- 
ing it  the  House  of  Good  Hope.  The  English  met  this 
by  establishing  settlements  on  the  Connecticut,  where- 
.  upon  Van  Twiller  sent  an  armed  force  of  seventy  men 
to  clear  the  river;  but  they  returned  without  striking  a 


28 

blow,  finding  the  English  "  very  warlike,  and  the  woods 
full  of  painted  savages."  This  ended  the  doughty  gov- 
ernor's campaigns  against  the  English  on  the  Connecti- 
cut, though  both  he  and  his  successors  continued  to 
assert  their  claim  to  the  *'  Great  River." 

In  conducting  the  internal  affairs  of  his  little  kingdom 
Van  Twiller  was  more  fortunate.  He  had  some  trouble 
with  the  powerful  patroons,  but  no  serious  difficulty  ;  he 
placated  the  Indians;  he  erected  many  public  buildings 
and  works,  and  he  saw  new  farms  and  villages  springing 
up  about  him.  The  patroon  Pietersen  de  Vries  pur- 
chased Staten  Island  and  founded  a  colony  there.  The 
Walloon  settlement,  the  first  on  the  present  site  of 
Brooklyn,  grew  apace.  Van  Twiller  completed  Fort 
Amsterdam,  and  built  a  substantial  dwelling  of  brick 
within  it  for  himself,  a  parsonage  and  stables  also  for 
the  Domine  Bogardus,  a  country  house  for  himself  on 
his  plantation,  a  brewery  and  boathouse,  several  mills, 
and  dwellings  for  the  smith,  cooper,  corporal,  and  other 
officers,  all  at  the  expense  of  the  company.  But  when 
his  bills  were  presented  the  directors  objected,  and 
partly  on  this  account,  partly  because  of  charges  made 
by  De  Vries  and  others  that  he  was  diverting  the  moneys 
of  the  company  to  his  own  use,  the  directors  removed 
him,  and  appointed  in  his  place  Wilhelm  Kieft,  who  took 
the  oath  of  office  at  Amsterdam,  September  2,  1637. 


IV.    WILHELM    KIEFT. 

AS  soon  as  news  of  this  reached  New  Amsterdam 
/\  the  people  there  began  to  talk  about  Kieft.  They 
said  he  had  become  bankrupt  as  a  merchant  in  Holland, 
and  had  been  condemned  to  have  his  portrait  fixed  to 
the  gallows,  and  when  later  he  had  been  minister  to 
Turkey  he  had  kept  the  funds  sent  him  to  ransom 
Christian  captives  from  the  Turk,  and  left  them  to  lan- 
guish in  captivity.  They  whispered  such  things  as  the 
new  governor  and  his  party  stepped  from  the  bark 
Blessing,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1638.  The  bystanders 
saw  a  little  man  with  sharp,  pinched  features,  a  cold 
gray  eye,  a  furtive,  suspicious  look  and  autocratic  air; 
a  man  of  good  natural  abilities,  but  undisciplined,  of 
peppery  temper,  selfish,  conceited,  and  tyrannical;  the 
very  man  to  embroil  himself  with  his  subjects,  and  his 
subjects  with  their  neighbors.  This  he  proceeded  to  do 
with  great  facility.  He  made  oppressive  and  vexatious 
sumptuary  laws, — that  is,  laws  directing  what  the  people 
should  eat  and  what  they  should  drink,  and  when  they 
should  sleep, — and  as  he  enforced  them  with  great 
rigor  the  whole  colony  was  soon  up  in  arms  against  him. 
Not  liking  the  check  imposed  on  him  by  the  council,  he 
dissolved  it  by  a  trick.  The  directors  had  given  him 
the  power  of  fixing  the  number  of  men  in  this  council, 

29 


30 

and  he  now  limited  it  to  one,  and  then  ordained  that  his 
council  should  have  but  one  vote  in  the  government, 
while  he  had  two.  This  practically  made  him  dictator, 
for  the  right  of  appeal  to  Amsterdam  was  very  little  used 
because  of  the  distance,  delay,  and  expense.  Next  he 
embroiled  himself  and  the  colony  with  the  Indians  by 
making  a  law  that  they  should  pay  tribute,  and  when 
they  refused  tried  to  compel  them  by  force.  The  result 
was  what  a  wiser  man  would  have  foreseen.  The  peo- 
ple openly  violated  the  oppressive  laws,  and  very  soon 
Kieft  had  an  Indian  war  on  his  hands,  a  state  of  affairs 
which  the  former  governors  had  sought  above  all  things 
to  avoid. 

One  day  in  1640  word  came  that  some  swine  running 
at  large  in  the  forests  of  Staten  Island  were  missing, 
and  the  director,  without  inquiry,  charged  that  the 
Raritan  Indians  had  stolen  them,  and  sent  out  a  com- 
pany of  troops  with  orders  to  kill,  burn,  and  destroy. 
Glad  of  the  opportunity,  the  soldiers  hurried  into  the 
Raritan  country,  burned  their  villages  and  cornfields, 
and  only  refrained  from  killing  the  Indians  because  they 
could  not  find  them.  In  revenge  the  Raritans  de- 
scended on  the  bouwery  of  the  innocent,  humane 
De  Vries  on  Staten  Island,  killed  four  of  his  planters, 
and  burned  his  house  and  tobacco  barn.  At  this, 
frenzied  with  rage,  Kieft  offered  his.  allies,  the  River 
Indians,  ten  fathoms  of  wampum  for  every  head  of  a 
Raritan,  and  twenty  fathoms  each  for  the  heads  of  the 
murderers  of  the  planters.  This  set  hundreds  of  human 
hounds  on  the  trail,  and  in  a  few  days  Pacham,  chief  of 
the  Tankitikes,   who   lived   about  Sing  Sing,  camQ  in 


31 

with  the  head  of  the  chief  who  had  slain  De  Vries's 
men  dangHng  at  the  end  of  a  stick.  At  the  same  time 
the  Raritans  came  in  and  begged  for  mercy.  A  few 
weeks  after  it  was  learned  that  the  swine  had  been  taken 
by  a  party  of  the  company's  servants  on  their  way  to 
Virginia. 

On  another  morning,  Claes  Smit,  the  village  wheel- 
wright, who  lived  alone  in  a  little  house  in  the  suburbs, 
was  found  murdered  in  his  bed,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  he  had  been  killed  by  a  Weckquaesgeck  Indian 
whose  uncle  had  been  slain  by  negro  slaves  of  the  com- 
pany twenty  years  before,  and  who  had  waited  thus 
long  for  an  opportunity  to  make  the  blood  atonement 
which  Indian  custom  laid  on  the  next  of  kin  in  such 
cases.  Kieft  promptly  demanded  the  murderer  from 
the  Weckquaesgeck  chief,  but  the  latter  refused. 
He  was  sorry,  he  said,  that  twenty  Christians  had 
not  been  killed.  The  blood  of  his  relative  cried  from 
the  ground  for  vengeance,  and  was  not  yet  appeased. 

Kieft  would  have  marched  an  army  against  the  tribe 
at  once,  but  was  deterred  by  the  protests  and  threats  of 
De  Vries  and  other  leaders,  who  reminded  him  that  they 
were  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  at  arms  against  ten 
thousand  savages,  and  asked  him  if  he  wished  to  pro- 
voke a  general  Indian  war. 

Alarmed  at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken,  the  director 
now  called  a  meeting  of  the  patroons  and  head  men, 
and  asked  their  advice.  The  latter,  quick  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  occasion,  chose  a  council  of  twelve  wise 
men  to  advise  the  director  in  this  and  other  emergencies, 
much  to  the  latter's  disgust.      In  the  present  case  they 


32 

advised  against  declaring  war  at  once,  for  three  reasons  : 
their  cattle  were  still  in  the  woods,  their  crops  iinhar- 
vested,  and  their  people  scattered  about  on  the  farms; 
in  the  winter,  they  said,  these  conditions  would  not 
exist.  Kieft  therefore  staid  the  uplifted  battle-ax, 
though  sorely  against  his  will. 

In  January  the  twelve  gave  their  consent,  and  at  the 
same  time  called  his  attention  to  certain  evils  and  abuses 
in  his  government  which  they  hoped  would  be  remedied  ; 
they  also  asked  for  certain  concessions  to  popular  rights, 
a  council  being  one  of  them.  Kieft  received  them 
kindly  and  promised  fairly,  but  a  day  or  two  after 
issued  a  proclamation  dissolving  the  council,  which  he 
said  had  been  called  to  consult  on  the  Indian  crisis,  which 
now  being  done,  he  thanked  them  for  their  trouble,  and 
would  make  use  of  their  advice  **  with  God's  help  and 
fitting  time."  The  paper  concluded  by  sternly  forbid- 
ding further  meetings,  which  *'  tended  to  the  great  injury 
both  of  the  country  and  of  our  authority." 

Being  now  again  supreme  ruler,  the  director  ordered 
Hendrik  Van  Dyck,  his  ensign,  to  march  with  eighty 
soldiers  against  the  Weckquaesgecks  and  harry  them 
with  fire  and  sword.  The  valiant  ensign  and  his  party 
set  out  with  stout  hearts,  but  became  entangled  in  the 
vast  forests,  and  returned  without  having  seen  a  Weck- 
quaesgeck.  The  campaign  served  its  purpose,  however, 
for  the  savages,  hearing  of  the  danger  they  had  barely 
escaped,  came  in  and  sued  for  mercy. 

Kieft  now  became  even  more  reckless  and  arbitrary  in 
his  government,  disdaining  all  counsel,  insomuch  that  in 
1643  the  infant  settlement  was  confronted  with  a  general 


33 

Indian  war.  The  River  Indians,  the  Connecticut  and 
Long  Island  tribes,  formed  an  alliance  to  destroy  the 
Dutch,  fifteen  liundred  savages  against  two  hundred  and 
fifty  white  men.  Soon  the  outlying  farms  and  villages 
were  attacked  and  burned,  and  such  of  the  inhabitants 
as  were  not  killed  sent  flying  to  the  fort  for  safety.  In 
this  crisis  Kieft  acted  like  one  bereft  of  reason ;  he  sent 
his  soldiers  up  the  Hudson  and  into  Connecticut  and 
Long  Island  with  orders  to  slaughter  the  Indians,  men, 
women,  and  children,  wherever  they  could  be  found,  to 
burn  their  villages  and  destroy  their  cornfields.  Mur- 
ders'most  inhuman  were  committed  under  his  orders, 
and  all  the  murders  were  avenged  either  then,  or  later 
by  the  allied  tribes. 

Meantime  petition  after  petition  had  been  sent  to  the 
home  company  detailing  Kieft's  crimes  and  unjust  acts, 


Stadt  Huys. 


and  praying  for  his  recall ;  but  so  powerful  was  the  in- 
fluence of  the  great  patroon  Van  Rensselaer  with  the  di- 
rectors that  for  a  long  time  no  notice  of  them  was  taken. 
At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1645,  the  colonists  threat- 


TODI),  N.  Y.— 3 


34 

ened  to  leave  in  a  body  unless  he  was  recalled,  and  this, 
together  with  the  influence  of  the  wise  and  humane 
patroon  De  Vries,  who  had  returned  to  Holland  in 
disgust,  led  the  chamber  to  remove  Kieft  and  appoint 
Petrus  Stuyvesant  in  his  place.  Over  against  the  evil 
that  Kieft  wrought  may  be  set  much  good  that  he 
did  ;  for  he  certainly  did  much  to  make  Manhattan  more 
beautiful  and  habitable.  He  repaired  the  fort,  erected 
public  buildings,  set  out  orchards  and  gardens  and  en- 
couraged others  to  do  so,  straightened  the  streets  and 
made  laws  for  keeping  them  cleaner.  One  of  his  build- 
ings was  the  great  stone  tavern  which  later  became  the 
Stadt  Huys,  or  City  Hall,  and  he  began  and  nearly 
finished,  within  the  fort,  the  large  stone  church  which 
was  for  many  years  the  city's  only  house  of  worship. 


V.    PETRUS   STUYVESANT. 

IT  was  over  two  years  before  a  new  governor  came, 
so  that  long  before  his  arrival  his  personal  history, 
character,  and  appearance  had  been  described  and  can- 
vassed. He  was  a  native  of  Friesland,  it  was  said,  son 
of  a  clergyman  there.  Bred  to  the  profession  of  arms, 
he  had  early  entered  the  service  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, and  won  renown  in  those  brilliant  battles,  sieges, 
naval  combats,  and  predatory  descents  on  the  Spanish- 
American  coasts,  which  gained  glory  for  the  company 
and  abundantly  filled  its  coffers.  Later,  as  governor 
of  Curasao,  he  undertook  to  conquer  the  island  of 
Saint  Martin,  but  having  lost  a  leg  in  the  action,  he 
returned  to  Holland  for  surgical  advice  ;  and  the  direct- 
ors, being  then  in  search  of  a  governor  for  their  mis- 
managed colony,  fixed  upon  this  victorious  commander 
and  martinet. 

The  people  of  Manhattan  were  not  very  well  pleased 
with  his  appointment;  they  feared  he  would  be  as 
tyrannical  as  Kieft,  and  regarded  his  selection  as  proof 
that  the  company  meant  to  continue  its  despotic  form 
of  government.  However,  anything  was  to  be  preferred 
to  their  present  condition,  and  they  waited  hopefully  for 
the  coming  of  their  new  master.  He  arrived  on  the 
I  ith  of  May,  1647,  with  a  fleet  of  four  large  ships  and 

35 


36 

a  noble  company:  his  beautiful  and  accomplished  wife, 
his  widowed  sister,  Mrs.  Bayard,  and  her  three  boys,  a 
vice  director,  a  council  which  had  been  appointed  by  the 
chamber  in  Amsterdam  as  a  check  on  the  director,  men 
at  arms,  and  colonists.  The  fleet  had  been  on  the  way 
since  Christmas,  having  made  a  detour  to  the  West 
Ind  es  on  some  affair  of  Stuyvesant's. 

As  the  director  came  to  land,  the  fort  thundered  a 
salute,  the  people  waved  hats  and  handkerchiefs,  and 
Kieft,  advancing,  read  an  address  of  welcome,  to  which 
the  new  ruler  responded. 

Neither  his  words  nor  his  manner  pleased  the  people  ; 
the  latter,  they  said,  seemed  too  much  like  that  of  a 
prince  addressing  conquered  subjects.  In  his  speech  he 
said  to  them  :  "  I  shall  be  in  my  government  as  a  father 
over  his  children,  for  the  advantage  of  the  privileged 
West  India  Company,  the  burghers,  and  the  country." 

Stuyvesant  assumed  the  reins  of  government  on  the 
27th  of  May,  and  his  words  and  manner  on  that  occa- 
sion were  still  less  to  their  liking.  "  He  kept  the  peo- 
ple standing  more  than  an  hour  with  their  heads  uncov- 
ered, while  he  wore  his  chapeau  as  though  he  were  the 
Czar  of  Muscovy,"  said  an  eyewitness.  At  the  same 
time  he  announced  his  council,  which  had  been  appointed 
in  Holland,  as  we  have  seen.  The  former  secretary  and 
schout  fiscal  were  retained ;  two  new  offices  had  been 
created,  a  master  of  equipage  and  an  English  secre- 
tary and  interpreter.  He  further  told  them  that  the 
company  had  established  a  court  of  justice,  of  which 
Van  Dinclage  was  to  be  judge,  but  from  whose  decisions 
an  appeal  might  be  taken  to  himself. 


3; 

Stuyvesant  ruled  with  a  high  hand.  Almost  his  first 
official  act  showed  the  people  that  they  could  expect 
little  more  liberty  under  him  than  under  Kieft.  There 
was  living  in  New  Amsterdam  at  this  time  a  very  re- 
spectable gentleman  named  Cornelis  Melyn,  who  had 
been  president  of  that  council  which  had  been  appointed 
by  the  patroons  and  chief  men  under  Kieft.  He  had  lost 
heavily  in  the  Indian  war  at  that  time,  and  now,  with 
Joachim  Pietersen  Kuyter,  also  a  member  of  the  same 
council,  petitioned  that  the  causes  of  that  war  might  be 
inquired  into,  and  that  the  testimony  of  citizens  might 
be  taken  under  oath. 

Stuyvesant  believed  that  the  government  should  be 
upheld,  right  or  wrong;  he  appointed  the  commission  as 
desired,  but  himself  went  before  it  and  said  that  in  his 
opinion  *'  the  two  mahgnant  fellows  w^ere  disturbers  of 
the  peace,  and  that  it  was  treason  to  complain  of  one's 
magistrates,  whether  there  was  cause  or  not,"  where- 
upon the  commission  refused  the  petition.  At  this, 
Kieft,  seeing  that  the  director  was  on  his  side,  had  the 
two  burghers  arrested  on  a  charge  of  "  rebellion  and 
sedition."  Justice  was  pretty  swift  in  those  days,  so  the 
two  unfortunates  were  quickly  haled  before  the  newly 
created  court,  where  Stuyvesant  sat  with  Judge  Van 
Dinclage  to  try  them.  There  were  then  no  lawyers  in 
New  Netherlands,  and  the  prisoners  pleaded  their  own 
case,  and  did  it  ably  too.  They  proved  the  truth  of 
their  charges  against  Kieft,  and  that  in  making  them 
they  were  not  moved  by  vindictive  motives.  Yet  in 
spite  of  this,  and  against  law  and  evidence,  the  judges 
declared  them  guilty.      Melyn  declared  that  he  would 


38 

appeal  to  the  States-General.  This  threw  Stuyvesant 
into  a  violent  rage.  He  stamped  about  on  his  wooden 
leg,  with  **  the  foam  on  his  beard,"  and  said  to  Melyn : 
**  Were  I  persuaded  that  you  would  bring  this  matter 
before  their  High  Mightinesses,  I  would  have  you 
hanged  on  the  highest  tree  in  New  Netherlands."  Next 
he  pronounced  sentence :  for  Melyn  seven  years'  ban- 
ishment and  a  fine  of  three  hundred  guilders,  and  for 
Kuyter  banishment  for  three  years  and  a  fine  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  guilders. 

A  few  days  after  the  trial  the  banished  men  were  put 
aboard  the  ship  Princess,  bound  for  Holland.  With 
them  sa  led  over  one  hundred  souls.  Kieft  was  among 
them,  and  Domine  Bogardus,  with  many  who  were  dis- 
satisfied with  the  government  as  administered  by  the 
new  director.  But  the  Pri7tcess  was  wrecked  in  a  great 
storm  on  the  wild  Welsh  coast.  Kieft  and  Domine 
Bogardus  went  down  in  the  swirling  waters.  Only 
Melyn,  Kuyter,  and  some  eighteen  others  escaped. 

When  Melyn  and  Kuyter,  after  long  delay,  brought 
their  case  before  the  States-General,  Stuyvesant's  judg- 
ment was  revoked,  and  Melyn  and  Kuyter  were  sent 
back  with  a  summons  to  him  from  the  Prince  of  Orange 
and  the  States-General  ordering  him  to  appear  and  an- 
swer before  them,  either  in  person  or  by  his  attorney  ; 
but  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  compounded,  as  we 
hear  no  more  of  it. 

The  great  event  of  Stuyvesant's  reign,  save  perhaps 
the  last,  was  the  granting  of  the  charter  which  made 
New  Amsterdam  a  city,  and  which  was  given  in  1652, 
in   answer  to  repeated  complaints  and  petitions  of  the 


39 

citizens.  It  was  on  the  plan  of  the  ancient  charter  of 
old  Amsterdam,  which  provided  for  the  election  by  the 
people  of  a  schout,  four  burgomasters,  nine  schepens, 
and  an  advisory  council  of  thirty-six  men.  The  first 
fourteen  constituted  a  body  similar  to  the  English  mayor 
and  common  council,  and  made  and  executed  the  laws  by 
which  the  city  was  governed.  They  were  also  a  court 
for  the  trial  of  civil  and  criminal  cases.  In  this  charter 
of  New  Amsterdam,  however,  the  company  limited  the 
number  of  burgomasters  to  two  and  of  schepens  to  five, 
but  declared  expressly  that  they  should  be  elected  by 
the  people. 

Stuyvesant,  however,  largely  nullified  the  charter  by 
appointing  the  city  fathers  instead  of  allowing  the  people 
to  elect  them,  and  after  he  had  appointed  them  told  them- 
plainly  that  he  should  preside  at  their  meetings  when- 
ever he  deemed  it  necessary,  and  advise  them  in  matters 
of  importance.  And  so  with  an  autocratic,  self-willed 
military  commander  as  governor,  the  people  found  the 
piece  of  parchment  of  little  avail.  They  had  the  shadow 
of  self-government,  however,  if  not  the  substance. 

The  old  stone  tavern  built  by  Kieft  was  cleaned, 
remodeled,  and  set  apart  as  a  stadt  buys,  or  city  hall, 
and  there  the  burgomasters  and  schepens  held  their 
sessions. 

Stuyvesant  proclaimed  the  city  on  the  2d  of  Febru- 
ary, 1653.  It  then  comprised  some  fifteen  hundred  in- 
habitants and  about  three  hundred  houses,  mostly  of 
wood,  with  a  few  of  stone.  It  had  no  trade  of  it*s  own, 
and  there  was  scarcely  cleared  land  enough  about  it  to 
supply  it  with  vegetables.     Is  it  not  wonderful  that  in 


40 

two  centuries  and  a  half  this  village  has  grown  to  be  the 
metropolis   of    the  western    continent   and   the   second 


City  of  New  Amsterdam,  1653. 


largest  city  in  the  world?  In  1654  Stuyvesant  pre- 
sented the  city  with  its  long-delayed  seal,  the  occasion 
being  a  banquet  held  in  the  council  chamber  by  the 
burgomasters  and  schepens  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  a  visit  of  ceremony  to  the  West  Indies.  The  guests 
all  crowded  round  to  view  it.  It  bore  the  arms  of  old 
Amsterdam,  three  crosses  saltire,  with  a  beaver  for  a 
crest,  and  above,  on  the  mantle,  the  initial  letters 
C.  W.  I.  C,  meaning  the  "  Chartered  West  India  Com- 
pany." Within  a  wreath  of  laurel  was  the  legend, 
Sigilhun  Avistelodamejisis  in  Novo  Belgio  ("Seal  of 
Amsterdam  in  New  Belgium  ''). 

Stuyvesant    returned    in    July,    and    shortly    after, 


41 

under  orders  from  Holland,  embarked  with  an  army  of 
seven  hundred  men  to  drive  off  certain  Swedes  who,  in 
Minuit's  time,  had  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  South 
River,  on  lands  claimed  by  the  Dutch.  A  few  days  after 
the  fleet  sailed,  the  ex-sheriff,  Van  Dyck,  discovered  an 
Indian  woman  stealing  peaches  in  his  orchard,  and  shot 
her  dead  on  the  spot.  Her  people  at  once  sent  swift 
runners  to  all  the  river  tribes,  to  the  Connecticut  and 
Long  Island  Indians,  praying  for  vengeance,  and  ap- 
prising them  that  the  director  and  all  the  able-bodied 
men  of  the  city  were  absent 

The  savages  at  once  sprang  to  arms,  and  just  before 
daybreak  on  September  15,  1655,  appeared  before  the 
city  in  sixty-four  canoes  bearing  nineteen  hundred 
warriors.  They  quickly  spread  through  the  town,  and 
broke  into  a  few  houses  on  pretense  of  looking  for 
hostile  Indians,  but  really  to  see  if  the  murderer  Van 
Dyck  was  in  the  city.  The  burgomasters  and  sche- 
pens,  aroused,  went  among  them,  gathered  the  chiefs 
into  the  fort,  and  with  soothing  and  persuasive  words 
induced  them  to  draw  their  men  out  of  the  city.  They 
retired  to  Nutten  (now  Governors)  Island,  but  quickly 
returned,  hurried  to  the  house  of  Van  Dyck,  and  killed 
him.  The  schepen.  Van  der  Grist,  who  lived  next  door, 
hastened  to  the  sheriff's  aid,  and  was  stricken  down  with 
an  ax.  By  this  time  the  alarm  had  been  given ;  the 
burgher  guard  sprang  to  arms,  and  drove  the  Indians 
off,  killing  several.* 

Stung  to  fury  by  this  loss,  the  savages  hurried  to 
Hoboken  and  Pavonia,  across  the  Hudson,  killed  every 
person   they   could   find,  and  ravaged  the  plantations, 


then  hastened  to  the  unfortunate  settlements  of  De 
Vries  on  Staten  Island,  where  the  same  scenes  were 
enacted — a  heavy  price  to  pay  for  one  man's  rash  and 
cruel  act. 

Stuyvesant  had  just  received  the  submission  of  the 
Swedes  when  a  courier  brought  the  news  of  this  Indian 
foray,  whereupon  he  returned  at  once,  but  acted  with 
much  more  wisdom  than  Kieft  had  shown  on  a  similar 
occasion.  He  called  the  chiefs  together,  and  by  kind 
words  and  presents  allayed  their  just  resentment  and 
restored  confidence. 

The  later  years  of  Stuyvesant's  term  were  marked  by 
religious  persecution,  before  unknown  in  New  Nether- 
lands. "  Allow  all  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  in 
their  own  houses,"  had  been  the  command  of  the  com- 
pany ;  but  the  director  would  recognize  only  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church.  He  persecuted  both  the  Lutherans 
of  Holland  and  the  Quakers  and  Baptists  of  New  Eng- 
land. These  and  other  cruelties  so  incensed  the  people 
that  Stuyvesant  had  scarcely  a  friend  in  his  government 
outside  of  his  official  family. 

He  was  very  soon  to  feel  the  eflfect  of  this  hostility. 
England,  as  we  have  remarked,  had  never  yielded  her 
claim  to  the  territory  covered  by  New  Netherlands. 
By  the  year  1664  she  believed  the  time  had  come  for 
gathering  it  to  herself. 

All  through  the  reign  of  Stuyvesant  events  had  been 
leading  up  to  this  end.  Charles  I.  of  England  had  been 
deposed  and  beheaded.  Cromwell  had  had  his  day  as 
Protector,  and  after  his  death  the  monarchy  had  been 
restored  in  the  person  of  Charles  II.,  who  was  now  king. 


43 

He  was  a  weak  man,  and  the  management  of  foreign 
affairs  had  fallen  largely  into  the  hands  of  his  abler 
brother  James,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  of  the  strong, 
statesmanlike  men  whom  the  king  had  selected  as  his 
ministers.  From  the  moment  that  Charles  felt  secure 
on  his  throne,  aggressions  against  this  little  strip  of 
Dutch  territory  began.  In  1664,  ignoring  some  former 
grants,  Charles  gave  to  his  brother  James  the  entire  ter- 
ritory claimed  by  the  Dutch  ;  and  at  once  that  energetic 
nobleman  set  about  getting  possession  of  the  grant,  a 
work  in  which  he  had  the  active  aid  and  encouragement 
of  King  Charles's  ministers. 

That  the  seizure  might  cause  a  war  with  Holland  did 
not  trouble  him  in  the  least;  he  disliked  the  Dutch  for 
various  reasons ;  besides,  a  war  would  focus  national 
attention  upon  himself,  and  already  he  had  his  eye  on 
the  throne  of  England.  Four  men-of-war,  the  Guinea 
of  thirty-six  guns,  the  Elias  of  thirty,  the  Martin  of 
sixteen,  and  the  William-and-NicJiolas  of  ten,  were  bor- 
rowed from  the  government,  and,  manned  with  four 
hundred  and  fifty  men  at  arms,  were  placed  under  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  a  veteran  officer  and  a 
courteous,  humane  gentleman. 

This  fleet  left  Portsmouth,  England,  about  the  middle 
of  May,  1664,  having  on  board  a  form  of  government 
and  laws  for  the  territory  when  it  should  be  taken.  So 
sure  were  they  of  capturing  it  that  Nicolls  bore  orders  to 
the  governors  of  the  New  England  colonies  directing 
them  to  aid  in  the  movement.  The  fleet  reached  Bos- 
ton late  in  July,  and  its  commander  asked  for  the  aid 
of   Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  in  carrying  out  his 


44 

design.  Massachusetts  had  Httle  love  for  King  Charles, 
and  responded  somewhat  tardily,  but  Connecticut,  which 
had  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  the  Dutch  on  her 
western  border,  gladly  aided  the  enterprise. 

Stuyvesant  was  away  on  a  visit  to  Fort  Orange  when 
news  that  the  English  were  about  to  attack  his  capital 
reached  him,  and  he  at  once  hurried  back.  Twenty- 
four  hours  after  reaching  home,  as  he  paced  restlessly 
the  parapet  of  the  fort,  he  saw  far  down  in  the  lower 
bay  the  dim  outlines  of  a  man-of-war  from  whose  peak 
floated  the  red  cross  flag  of  Saint  George;  it  was  the 
Guinea,  leading  the  fleet  to  the  attack.  Never  before  had 
a  commander  been  caught  so  unprepared :  there  were 
no  provisions  for  a  siege;  of  the  thirteen  hundred 
pounds  of  powder  in  the  fort  six  hundred  were  useless; 
of  the  garrison  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  regular  soldiers 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  militia  the  director  was  not 
sure  of  the  loyalty  of  one. 

Stuyvesant  fumed  and  stamped  about  on  his  wooden 
leg.  He  swore  that  he  would  hold  the  town  against  all 
odds,  and  he  began  active  though  tardy  preparations  for 
defense.  He  mustered  his  four  hundred  men,  and  or- 
dered every  third  man  among  the  citizens  to  repair  to 
the  defenses  with  spade,  shovel,  or  wheelbarrow. 

But  the  latter  murmured  at  this.  Was  the  director 
crazy,  they  asked,  that  he  thought  of  defense?  Sup- 
pose he  held  the  fort,  did  he  not  know  that  the  frigates 
could  pass  up  the  river  and  rake  the  town  on  either 
side? 

Many  refused  to  go.  Perhaps  a  third  of  the  pop- 
ulation  were    EngHsh-speaking    people,    in    sympathy 


45 

with  Nicolls,  and  these  now  went  about  the  city  spread- 
ing disaffection  and  working  on  the  fears  of  the  people. 
Nevertheless,  Stuyvesant  continued  his  preparations: 
he  placed  a  guard  at  the  city  gates;  he  ordered  the 
brewers  to  cease  making  grain  into  malt,  and  set  his 
slaves  to  thrashing  grain  at  his  farm  and  conveying  it 
to  the  fort. 

Meantime  the  fleet  anchored  in  the  bay  and  sent  a 
summons  to  the  director  to  surrender.  Stuyvesant 
called  a  council  of  the  burgomasters  and  schepens,  who 
advised  delay  and  the  sending  of  commissioners  to 
argue  the  matter  with  the  invaders.  This  was  done. 
But  Nicolls  told  them  plainly  that  he  was  not  come  to 
argue,  but  to  execute.  The  council  then  asked  three 
days  to  consider,  which  was  at  once  given,  as  it  gave  the 
humane  commander  the  opportunity  he  desired.  He 
took  advantage  of  the  delay  to  move  hi?  vessels  abreast 
of  Governors  Island,  where  he  disembarked  five  com- 
panies of  soldiers  and  sent  them  to  effect  a  junction  with 
a  party  of  hor.se  and  foot  from  Connecticut  and  Long 
Island,  after  which  the  allied  force  encamped  on  the 
Brooklyn  shore  by  the  present  terminus  of  Fulton 
Ferry.  Nicolls  was  very  desirous  of  taking  the  place 
without  bloodshed,  as  his  object  was  to  placate  the 
Dutch  and  make  them  contented  and  orderly  subjects 
of  the  King  of  England.  He  now  issued  a  proclamation 
offering  to  all  who  would  submit  life,  liberty,  property, 
and  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  every  right  whether  of 
person  or  estate.  This  paper  he  distributed  throughout 
the  city  by  means  of  his  agents,  and  awaited  the  result. 
The  people  read  it  or  heard  of  it,  and  urged  the  di- 


46 

rector  to  submit ;  but  he  refused,  and  hurried  on  his 
preparations  for  defense. 

The  original  demand  had  been  made  on  Saturday, 
August  30.  The  three  days'  grace  would  expire  on 
Wednesday  morning,  September  3.  On  Tuesday  morn- 
ing a  rowboat  was  seen  approaching  from  the  fleet.  It 
contained  six  dignified  gentlemen  of  commanding  pres- 
ence, conspicuous  among  them  the  noble  figure  of  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop  of  Connecticut,  whom  Stuyvesant  had 
several  times  met  at  banquet  board  and  council  table 
— an  embassy  bent  on  effecting  a  bloodless  surrender. 
They  were  met  at  the  wharf  with  due  courtesy,  a  salute 
being  fired  in  their^ honor,  and  conducted  to  the  Stadt 
Huys,  where  Stuyvesant  and  his  council  were  waiting  to 
receive  them.  Winthrop  broached  their  mission,  and 
with  his  well-known  eloquence  urged  the  director  to 
give  over  a  hopeless  struggle  and  spare  useless  shedding 
of  blood  by  yielding  the  city  to  the  English. 

But  the  lion-hearted  director  swore  he  would  never 
submit.  Winthrop  then  delivered  a  letter  from  Colonel 
Nicolls,  which  was  read  to  the  council,  in  which  he 
promised  that  the  Dutch  should  have  full  liberty  equally 
with  the  king's  subjects  to  settle  in  New  Netherlands 
and  to  trade  with  their  own  country  or  return  thither. 

A  great  crowd  of  citizens  had  gathered  outside  to 
hear  the  result,  and  the  burgomasters  now  asked  that 
the  letter  might  be  read  to  them  ;  but  Stuyvesant,  who 
feared  its  effect,  refused.  A  war  of  words  ensued,  and 
in  the  midst  of  it  the  choleric  director  seized  the  letter 
and  tore  it  to  pieces.  At  this  CorneHs  Steenwyck,  a 
member   of  the   council,  roundly  denounced   him,  and 


47 

with  his  fellow-officials  quitted  the  place.  On  gaining 
the  street  they  told  the  people  what  had  taken  place, 
and  the  latter  presently  deputed  three  prominent  men 
among  them  to  call  upon  the  director  and  demand  the 
letter.  In  reply  the  latter  showed  them  the  fragments, 
but  on  the  delegates  still  demanding  the  letter,  lie  went 
out  to  the  people  and  tried  to  reason  with  them  ;  but  his 
voice  was  drowned  in  angry  shouts  for  the  letter. 

"  That,"  said  Stuyvesant,  "  was  addressed  to  the  offi- 
cers of  government,  and  does  not  concern  you."  But 
the  people  were  not  to  be  placated,  and  amid  bitter 
curses  and  threats  Stuyvesant  withdrew  to  the  fort, 
while  Nicholas  Bayard,  the  politic  courtier,  pieced  the 
torn  fragments  of  the  letter  together,  and  from  it  made 
a  copy  which  he  read  to  the  people,  who  were  little 
appeased  by  it,  and  still  clamored  for  submission. 
Meantime  Stuyvesant,  in  the  fort,  was  writing  another 
letter  to  Nicolls,  in  which  he  gave  an  exliaustive  account 
of  the  Dutch  discovery  and  settlement  of  New  Nether- 
lands, and  forcibly  stated  their  claims  to  it.  He  sealed 
it  and  sent  it  by  four  of  his  most  trusted  friends. 

**  Nay,"  said  Nicolls,  when  the  envoys  reached  his 
ship,  "  I  stand  on  no  question  of  right ;  if  my  terms 
are  not  accepted  I  must  carry  out  my  orders  and 
attack." 

The  delegates  still  wished  to  argue,  but  Nicolls  cut 
them  short.  "  On  Thursday  I  shall  speak  with  you  at 
the  Manhattans,"  he  said  significantly. 

"  Thou  wilt  be  welcome  if  thou  comest  as  a  friend," 
replied  the  envoys. 

*'  I  will  come  with  my  ships  and  my  soldiers,  and  he 


48 

will  be  a  bold  messenger  who  will  dare  to  come  on 
board  and  solicit  terms,"  said  Nicolls. 

**  What  then  is  to  be  done?  "  they  asked. 

"  Hoist  the  white  flag  over  the  fort,  and  I  may  take 
it  into  consideration,"  was  the  reply.  He  promised 
that  he  would  not  fire  upon  the  city  without  warning, 
but  refused  their  request  not  to  move  his  troops  nearer 
the  city.  "  To-day  I  shall  arrive  at  the  ferry,"  he 
added;  "  to-morrow  we  can  agree  with  one  another." 

That  same  day  he  landed  three  companies  of  regulars 
at  Gravesend,  and  marched  overland  at  their  head  to 
the  Fulton  Ferry,  where  he  formed  a  junction  with  the 
troops  already  there.  While  this  was  being  done  two 
of  the  frigates  sailed  up  past  the  fort  with  ports  open 
and  guns  shotted,  ready  to  pour  in  a  broadside  if  its 
guns  should  open.  Stuyvesant  stood  on  the  parapet  as 
they  passed,  and  would  have  ordered  his  gunners  to  fire, 
no  doubt,  for  he  was  not  lacking  in  courage,  had  not 
Domine  Megapolensis  at  the  critical  moment  laid  his 
hand  upon  his  shoulder.  "  It  is  madness,"  said  he. 
"  What  can  our  twenty  guns  do  against  the  sixty-two 
pointed  toward  us  from  yonder  frigates?  Will  you  be 
the  first  to  shed  blood?  " 

Once  they  were  past,  however,  the  director's  resolu- 
tion returned,  and  taking  one  hundred  soldiers,  he  hur- 
ried up  into  the  city  to  resist  any  attempt  of  the  English 
to  land.  But  as  he  came  into  the  town  he  was  met  by 
a  petition  signed  by  ninety-three  prominent  citizens, 
including  the  magistrates  and  clergy,  begging  him  to 
accept  the  generous  terms  of  the  English  and  save  the 
city  from   burning,    and   the   people   from   the   sword. 


49 

Women  and  children  also  came  and  pleaded  that  he 
would  save  them  from  the  violence  of  a  sack,  until  at 
last  the  grim  old  veteran,  hero  of  a  hundred  battles, 
gave  way. 

"  I  had  rather  be  carried  to  my  grave,"  he  said,  but 
he  ordered  the  white  flag  raised  on  the  fort. 

And  thus  peaceably  fell  New  Amsterdam  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1664. 

The  articles  of  capitulation  were  agreed  on  next  morn- 
ing. They  provided  that  free  intercourse  with  Holland 
was  to  continue,  that  citizens  of  every  race  and  creed 
were  to  be  secured  in  person,  property,  customs,  and  re- 
ligion. Stuyvesant  and  his  men  were  to  march  out  with 
drums  beating,  colors  flying,  and  matchlocks  lighted, 
and  embark  on  the  vessel  which  was  to  bear  them  to  the 
fatherland. 

This  program  was  fully  carried  out  on  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1664.  As  the  Dutch  marched  out  the  English 
entered,  and  raised  their  red  cross  flag  over  the  fort  and 
public  buildings.  Nicolls  was  proclaimed  governor,  the 
fort  rechristened  James,  in  honor  of  the  duke,  and  the 
province  named  New  York  for  the  same  reason. 

The  United  Provinces  exclaimed  loudly  against  the 
injustice  of  the  conquest,  and  waged  a  long  and  bloody 
war  with  England  because  of  it.  Stuyvesant,  too,  was 
blamed  for  yielding  up  the  fort,  but  hurried  to  Amster- 
dam and  made  a  strong  defense.  Afterwards,  his 
family,  his  property,  and  friends  being  in  New  York,  he 
returned,  and  lived  many  years  in  his  fine  old  country- 
house,  which  stood  near  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Third 
Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street.     There  he  died  in  1672, 

TODD,   N.  v.— 4 


50 


one  of  the  heroic  figures  of  his  age.  His  house,  garden, 
and  bouwery  continued  to  be  for  many  years  one  of  the 
landmarks  of  the  city.  The  house  was  of  wood,  two 
stories  high,  with  projecting  story,  and  stood  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  east  of  Third  Avenue  and 

forty  feet  north  of 
Twelfth  Street.  In 
front  of  it  was  the 
garden,  laid  out  in 
quaint  old  Dutch 
style  with  formal 
paths  and  flower 
beds  describing  al- 
most every  geomet- 
rical figure.  In  this 
garden,  near  the 
house,  Stuyvesant 
planted  a  pear  tree, 
which  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years 
kept  his  memory 
green  and  indicated 
to  passers-by  the 
site  of  his  dwelling. 
Generation  aftergen- 
eration  of  his  des- 
cendants grew  up  and  passed  away.  Year  by  year 
the  city  crept  steadily  northward,  invaded  his  farm, 
and  caused  streets  to  be  laid  out  through  his  garden ; 
then  the  old  pear  tree,  still  green,  vigorous,  and  fruitful, 
found  itself  at  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue  and  Thirteenth 


Stuyvesant's  Pear  Tree. 


51 

Street.  Then  careful  hands  placed  an  iron  raiHng  about 
it  to  protect  it.  At  last,  after  it  had  stood  on  the  corner 
for  sixty  years,  it  was  blown  down  in  a  great  storm 
in  February,  1867,  and  the  last  memento  of  the  lion- 
hearted  governor  ceased  to  exist. 

His  widow,  Judith  Bayard,  lived  on  in  the  old  man- 
sion until  her  death  in  1687,  and  founded  by  will  the 
present  Saint  Mark's  Church,  which  stands  on  a  part  of 
the  Stuy  vesant  farm,  and  in  which  the  ashes  of  the  gov- 
ernor rest. 


.  VI.    DUTCH    MANNERS   AND    CUSTOMS. 

IF  in  the  preceding  pages  we  have  spoken  little  of  the 
life  of  the  people,  it  was  from  our  desire  to  present  a 
clear  and  connected  idea  of  the  founding  of  our  noble 
city  and  of  the  causes  which  led  up  to  it,  and  not  be- 
cause we  deemed  such  details  trivial  or  unimportant. 

For  a  generation  the  life  of  the  pioneers  was  rude  and 
hard.  They  dwelt  at  first  in  tents  and  dugouts,  later  m 
small,  one-room  cabins  with  thatched  straw  roofs  and 
chimneys  of  small,  square  sticks  mortared  with  mud. 
There  was  much  hard,  and  rude  work  to  be  done  ;  forests 
were  to  be  cleared,  lands  drained,  plowed,  and  sowed, 
quarries  opened,  a  fort,  brickkilns,  houses,  flouring  mills, 
and  sawmills  built,  and  streets  and  roads  laid  out  and 
paved. 

By  1664,  however.  New  Amsterdam  had  become  a 
city  with  not  a  few  of  the  amenities  and  refinements  of 
civilized  life.  Let  us  imagine  that  we  stroll  through  it 
some  beautiful  June  morning  in  1664,  and  look  upon 
the  burghers  at  their  work  and  play. 

We  might  have  come  over  from  Brooklyn  by  the 
rowboat  ferry  which  then  landed  near  the  present  Peck 
Slip.  As  we  stepped  ashore  we  should  have  seen  both 
cleared  fields  and  forests  about  us.  Though  the  "  fferry 
road  "  wound  south,  following  the  present  line  of  Pearl 

5? 


53 


Street,  which  then  ran  along  j:he  pebbly  beach  of  the  East 
River,  the  streets  now  lying  between — Water,  South, 
and  Front — were  then  crossed  by  the  tide.  At  what  is 
now  Maiden  Lane  we  should  have  come  upon  a  foot- 
path which  here  crossed  our  road,  coming  down  to  the 
river  from  Broadway,  and  skirting  the  shores  of  several 
clear-water  ponds  fed  by  springs,  their  combined  outlet 
being  a  Httle  brook  that  came  leaping  gayly  down  to  join 
the  river;  and  here  a  pretty  scene  would  have  presented 
itself.  A  bevy  of  beautiful  maidens,  with  bare,  dimpled 
arms,  are  wetting  linen  in  the  basins,  and  spreading  it 
in  the  sun  on  the  verdant  slope  of  the  hill  to  the  west, 
chatting  volubly  the  while  in  their  musical  tongue. 
Their  own  fingers  have  spun  the  Hnen  from  the  flax  and 
woven  it  in  the  loom,  and  now  they  are  spreading  it  in 
the  sun  to  bleach.  They  and  their  mothers  before  them 
formed  the  path, 
hence  called  Maagde 
Paatje  ("Maidens' 
Path "),  which  the 
English  changed  to 
our  present  Maiden 
Lane. 

Pleased  and  inter- 
ested, we  should  have 
journeyed  on,  and  at 
the  present  line  of 
Wall  Street  would  have  been  stopped  abruptly  by  a 
blank  wall  of  palisades— great  timbers  twelve  feet  high, 
set  three  feet  deep  in  the  earth,  with  stout  posts  at  every 
rod,  rising  two  feet  above  the  palisades,  to  which  split 


I     U 


The  Wall,  1664. 


54 

rails  were  nailed,  thus  forming  a  fence  two  feet  above 
the  tops  of  the  palisades.  Before  us  would  have  been 
an  arched  gateway,  the  kej^  of  the  arch  being  carved 
with  strange-looking  figures  and  crowned  with  a  cu- 
pola and  gilded  weathercock.  Let  us  imagine  that  the 
great  nail-studded  oaken  gate  is  open,  and  we  enter. 
Once  within,  we  examine  the  wall  more  closely.  At 
the  water's  edge  on  the  east  is  a  square  blockhouse 
with  holes  between  the  timbers  for  muskets,  and  a 
''  half-moon  "  or  semicircular  battery  projecting  into  the 
water  and  mounting  two  cannon,  one  pointing  up  the 
river,  the  other  down. 


Foot  of  Wall  Street,  1674. 


55 

There  is  a  guard  here,  a  single  soldier  in  loose  gray 
blouse  and  baggy  breeches,  with  an  ancient  flintlock 
musket  thrown  over  his  shoulder.  These  blockhouses 
are  placed  at  intervals  along  the  wall  quite  over  to  the 
Hudson,  while  at  Broadway  there  is  another  gate  and 
arched  gateway.  Without  is  a  chevaux-de-frise  of 
stumps  with  their  fanglike  roots  upturned,  and  within 
a  broad  ditch  and  a  sod  rampart. 

The  guard  at  the  gate  tells  us  that  the  wall  is  2,340 
feet  long,  that  it  cost  3,166  guilders,  and  was  built  in 
1653,  when  the  people  feared  a  descent  from  the  Eng- 
lish and  hostile  Indians  on  the  north.  Thanking  the 
sentry,  we  are  about  to  continue,  when  we  are  beset  by 
a  half  score  of  ragged,  sooty  urchins  with  their  cry  of 
"  Sweep  ho!"  There  is  a  wide  lane  flanking  the  wall 
(hence  called  Wall  Street),  and  on  its  inner  side  is  a  row 
of  rude  thatched  cabins,  the  Five  Points  of  New  Amster- 
dam, abodes  of  boatmen,  sweeps,  tapsters,  and  social 
outcasts. 

We  will  walk  slowly  along  the  water  front,  staring  at 
everything,  as  might  be  expected  of  curious  travelers 
from  a  far  country.  Here  are  queer,  half-moon  docks 
with  no  vessels  moored  to  them,  but  instead  placid 
and  substantial-looking  burghers,  talking,  smoking,  or 
watching  fish  lines  thrown  from  the  dock.  Their  stores 
and  dwellings  are  across  the  street,  quaint,  peaked- 
roofed  buildings  with  crowstep  gables,  store  beneath 
and  dwelling  above,  and,  overtopping  all,  the  great  stone 
Stadt  Huys,  or  City  Hall,  with  its  gallows  in  front.  The 
busiest  place  of  all  is  the  city  dock,  the  first  built  on 
Manhattan  Island,  precursor  of  the  thirty  miles  or  m^ore 


56 


of  busy  wharves  of  the  modern  city.     The  merchants 
call  it  the  ''  Hooft,"  and  the  water  in  front  the  **  Road- 


City  Hall  and  Great  Dock,  1679. 


Stead."  There  are  scows,  skiffs,  periaguas,  and  canoes 
moored  to  it,  but  no  large  craft ;  they  must  anchor  in 
the  Roadstead,  being  forbidden  to  come  alongside,  in 
order  to  prevent  smuggling,  and  also  to  keep  the  sailors 
from  roaming  through  the  city. 

A  fleet  of  scows  and  small  boats  is  employed  remov- 
ing cargo  to  the  dock  from  the  ships  of  all  descriptions 
anchored  in  the  Roadstead.  These  are  laden  with  divers 
articles,  according  to  the  port  from  which  they  sailed. 
Thus,  a  "  Holland  ship,"  as  those  from  the  mother  coun- 
try are  called,  has  dry  goods,  wet  goods,  hardware,  and 
perhaps  a  few  of  those  *'  cow  calves  "  and  **  ewe  milk 


57 


sheep  "  mentioned  by  the  old  chroniclers  as  being  staple 
articles  of  export  to  New  Netherlands  during  this  period. 
One  of  the  scows  is 
laden  with  dried  fish 
and  English  goods 
from  a  **  snow  "  just 
arrived  from  Boston ; 
a  second  with  hogs- 
heads of  tobacco  from 
a  Virginia  **  ketch;" 
a  third  with  savage, 
unkempt  negroesfrom 
the  west  coast  of  Af- 
rica, on  their  way  from 
the  slaver  White  Horse, 
to  be  sold  in  the  slave 
market  at  public  auc- 
tion to  the  highest 
bidder.  A  galley  from  Cura9ao  is  unloading  costly 
dyewoods  and  tropical  fruits  into  a  fourth,  while  a  fifth, 
tied  to  a  "  pincke  "  from  Barbados,  is  receiving  barrels 
of  sugar  and  hogsheads  of  molasses,  the  latter  exud- 
ing sweetness  in  the  hot  sun.  Molasses  smears  the  deck 
of  the  scow  and  now  and  then  causes  a  fall  among  the 
barefooted  slaves  that  man  her.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  sloop  of  the  great  patroon  of  Rensselaerwyck  is 
sending  ashore  bales  of  costly  furs — mink,  otter,  beaver, 
wolf,  bear,  and  others.  All  must  be  landed  at  the  city 
dock  and  pay  duty ;  consequently  the  latter  is  a  busy 
place,  as  before  remarked.  Gangs  of  Angola  slaves 
receive   the   goods,    and   after  they   are   duly   entered 


Leister's  House. 


58 

trundle  them  off  across  the  street  to  the  merchants' 
warehouses,  or  to  the  company's  five  great  stone  store- 
houses that  stand  in  a  row  between  what  will  be  Bridge 
and  Stone  streets  later. 

The  four  great  merchants  of  New  Amsterdam  at 
this  period — Cornelis  Steenwyck,  Pieter  Cornelissen 
Vanderveen,  Govert  Loockermans,  and  Isaac  Allerton 
— are  among  them  in  their  cloth  coats  with  silver  buttons 
and  baggy  breeches,  to  see  that  they  get  good  weight 
and  measure,  and  that  the  negroes  keep  to  their  task  and 
practice  no  thievery  ;  indeed,  Cornelis  Steenwyck  is  so 


East  River  near  Coenties  Slip,  1658. 

careful  that  he  is  followed  by  a  negro  woman  with 
needle  and  thread,  who  sews  up  any  rents  in  bags  or 
bales  that  his  sharp  eyes  detect. 


59 

Turning  again  to  the  water  front,  we  find  a  warning 
placard  off  the  future  Coenties  SHp  forbidding  vessels  of 
fifty  tons  or  under  to  anchor  between  there  and  the  fort 
under  a  heavy  penalty.  There  is  another  near  the  future 
Fulton  Street  forbidding  any  vessel  at  all  to  moor  above 
that  point,  thus  collecting  all  the  craft  in  the  harbor  into 
one  locality.  Quite  a  fleet  there  is,  too,  and  such  queer 
craft,  with  their  square  bows,  broad  beams,  and  sterns 
built  so  high  you  would  think  the  first  gale  from  astern 
would  catch  them  up  and  bury  them  fathoms  deep  by 
the  bows — very  different  from  the  craft  of  grace  and 
beauty  that  later  gathered  at  these  wharves.  Their 
names  are  quite  as  quaint  and  curious  —  Flower  of 
Guilder,  Sea  Mezu,  Little  Fox,  Blue  Cock,  Neiv  Nether- 
lands Fortune,  Little  Crane,  Great  Christopher,  New 
Netherland  Indian,  and  so  on. 

We  are  about  to  proceed,  following  the  ferry  road  on 
to  the  fort,  when  we  notice  a  stir  on  the  dock,  and  look- 
ing up,  see  that  the  flag  on  the  flagstaff  has  been  hoisted 
to  the  masthead,  which  means  that  a  Holland  ship  is 
standing  in.  Such  an  event  will  be  too  common  for 
notice  in  later  days,  but  to  these  good  people  it  means 
tidings  from  home  and  kin,  of  fathers  and  mothers, 
brothers  and  sisters,  wives  and  sweethearts ;  news  of  the 
world,  also,  up  to  the  vessel's  sailing  eight  weeks  before, 
and  to  the  merchants  news  of  ventures,  fate  of  argosies. 

So  they  hasten  to  the  Battery  and  welcome  the  new- 
comer with  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs.  By 
and  by  a  gun  from  the  fort  brings  the  vessel  to  off  the 
Battery.  The  haven  master  boards  her,  inspects  papers 
and  manifests,  and  she  is  then  allowed  to  proceed  to  her 


6o 

anchorage  In  the  Roadstead,  and  to  discharge  her  pas 
sengers. 

At  Bridge  Street  is  a  great  bridge  over  the  Heere 
Graft,  or  Principal  Canal,  which  here  enters  from  the 
East  River,  and  extends  along  the  line  of  Broad  Street 
up  to  Exchange  Place.      No  doubt  the  burghers  built  it 


Canal  and  Bridge  in  Broad  Street. 


to  remind  them  of  Holland.  They  cherish  it  highly 
and  take  the  utmost  care  of  it.  Its  sides  are  protected 
by  wooden  piling. ,  No  one  may  throw  refuse  into  it  or 
defile  its  waters.  iThere  are  broad  sidewalks  on  either 
side  of  it,  patrolled  by  a  burly  "  Graft  officer,"  whose 
duty  it  is  to  keep  the  siding  in  repair,  prevent  nuisances, 
and  "  lay  the  boats,  canoes,  and  other  craft  that  come 
therein  in  order." 

There  are  many  of  the  latter  within  it  now — Long 
Island  farmers  laden  with  produce,  Indians  in  canoes  with 
furs  and  game  to  sell.     The  bridge  near  its  mouth  is  a 


6i 


famous  meeting  place  for  the  merchants,  the  first  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  ;  at  its  mouth  are  the  company's  stores 
before  mentioned,  and  opposite  it  the  Roadstead. 

Let  us  next  turn  into  Whitehall  Street,  which  will 
lead  us  to  the  fort.  It  is  well  built  up  on  one  side 
with  solid  stone  and  brick  houses  showing  checkerwork 


The  Fort. 


fronts  and  crowstep  gables,  and  overlooking  the  Bat- 
tery and  the  shining  reaches  of  the  bay.  It  is  quite  the 
patrician  quarter.  Here  at  the  foot  is  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant's  town  mansion,  known  far  and  wide  as  the 
"  White  Hall,"  and  giving  the  street  its  name.  Behind 
each  house  is  a  garden  gay  with  flowers,  the  wonderful 
tulip  of  Holland  predominating,  and  in  the  rear  of  this 
an  orchard  of  pear,  peach,  plum,  apple,  quince,  and 
apricot  trees  well  loaded  with  young  fruit.     Primeval 


oaks  and  elms  spared  from  the  ancient  forests  shade  this 
really  beautiful  thoroughfare. 

It  leads  us  up  to  the  Bowling  Green,  or  *'  Common," 
the  first  laid  out  by  the  city  fathers.  Whitehall  Street 
enters  this  from  the  east,  while  Broadway  leaves  it  on 
the  north.  On  the  south  or  seaward  side  stands  the 
fort,  a  quadrangular  earthwork  having  bastions  faced 
with  stone,  and  mounting  twenty-two  curious,  wide- 
mouthed  brass  and  bronze  cannon.  Bombards,  serpen- 
tines, culverins,  and  so  on,  the  soldiers  call  them,  and 
they  throw  stone  as  well  as  iron  balls. 

The  interior,  or  parade,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
square,  and  in  its  center  is  planted  the  tall  flagstaff 
we  saw  from  the  water  front ;  and  there  proudly  floats 
the  white,  blue,  and  orange  flag  of  the  West  India 
Company.  A  quaint  windmill,  its  tower  turning  on  a 
pivot,  stands  on  the  northwest  bastion,  whence  come  the 
prevailing  winds. 

The  principal  object  within  the  fort,  however,  is  the 
great  stone  church  built  by  Kieft  in  1642,  with  its  two 
peaked  roofs,  and  the  tower  looming  aloft  between. 
The  government  house,  a  plain  brick  structure,  also 
built  by  Kieft,  stands  beside  it,  and  with  the  jail,  bar- 
racks, and  storehouses  of  stone  completes  the  list  of 
buildings  within  the  fort. 

There  are  many  soldiers  lounging  about,  while  little 
groups  of  townspeople  and  sightseers  promenade  the 
ramparts,  for  the  fort  is  one  of  the  lions  of  the  infant 
city. 

A  little  wearied  with  our  sightseeing,  we  will  now 
cross  the  Green  to  the  tavern  of  the  worshipful  Mar- 


63 

ten  Cregier,  president  of  the  burgomasters  and  captain 
of  the  burgher  guard,  which  tavern  is  the  fashion- 
able inn  of  the  city.  Whenever  the  governors  of  the 
neighboring  colonies,  titled  visitors  from  abroad,  military 
and  naval  officers,  book-making  travelers,  and  commis- 
sioners sent  to  treat  on  vexed  questions  of  boundaries 
or  runaway  slaves  or  illicit  trade,  come  to  town,  they 
are  at  once  referred  to  the  inn  of  the  good  burgomaster. 
Scarcely  have  we  drawn  rein  when  the  host  appears 
to  welcome  us,  and  a  hostler  holds  the  stirrup  while  we 
dismount.  Crossing  the  broad,  brick-floored  stoop,  or 
porch,  furnished  with  comfortable  wooden  benches,  we 
pass  through  the  two-leaved  oaken  door  into  the  wide 
hall,  on  one  side  of  which  is  the  parlor,  with  oiled  floor 
and  ponderous  stiff-backed  Dutch  furniture,  and  on  the 
other  the  great  public  room  of  the  inn.  The  floor  of  the 
latter  has  been  freshly  sprinkled  with  clean  white  sand 
brought  from  Coney  Island  by  the  "  vlie  boats,"  and 
it  has  been  drawn  into  whorls  and  grotesque  figures  by 
Gretchen's  tireless  broom.  The  walls  are  graced  by 
deers'  antlers,  on  which  hang  the  long  **  goose  guns  "  of 
*the  landlord  and  his  guests,  by  placards,  and  by  funny 
Dutch  prints  of  hunting  scenes  and  the  like.  In  one 
corner  is  a  sideboard,  rich  with  decanters,  bottles,  and 
glasses,  and  a  rack  stuck  full  of  long  pipes,  each  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  its  owner ;  for  the  inn  is  the  resort  of 
the  better  class  of  citizens,  the  merchants  and  gentry, 
filling  the  place  of  the  modern  clubhouse  and  exchange. 
Two  very  fat  merchants  are  already  here,  seated  at  a 
little  table,  sipping  foaming  Sopus  beer,  smoking  con- 
tentedly, and  now  and  then  venturing  a  remark.     The 


64 

placards  give  us  a  vivid  idea  of  the  iron  rule  of  Stuyve- 
sant,  for  most  of  them  are  ordinances  telling  what  the 
tapsters  and  the  people  may  not  do.  One  commands 
the  innkeeper  not  to  give  or  sell  any  strong  drink 
to  the  Indians;  another  commands  him  to  report  at 
once  to  the  proper  officer  any  one  hurt  or  wounded  in  his 
house ;  another  forbids  him  to  admit  or  entertain  any 
company  in  the  evening  after  the  ringing  of  the  farmers' 
bell,  or  sell  or  furnish  any  liquors  on  the  Sabbath,  **  trav- 
elers and  boarders  alone  excepted,  before  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  when  divine  service  is  finished." 

Does  it  not  seem  strange  to  read  the  following  pla- 
card? '**  Whereas  we  are  informed  of  the  great  ravages 
the  wolf  commits  on  the  small  cattle,  therefore,  to  ani- 
mate and  encourage  the  proprietors  who  will  go  out  and 
shoot  the  same,  we  have  resolved  to  authorize  the  assist- 
ant schout  [sheriff]  and  schepens  to  give  public  notice 
that  whoever  shall  exhibit  a  wolf  to  them  which  hath 
been  shot  on  this  island  on  this  side  Harlem  shall  be 
promptly  paid  therefor  by  them,  for  a  wolf  fl.  20,  and 
for  a  she- wolf  fl.  30,  in  wampum  or  the  value  thereof." 
The  thickets  that  cover  the  greater  portion  of  tHe 
island  are  favorite  retreats  for  these  and  other  wild 
beasts. 

After  a  substantial  Dutch  supper  of  wild  fowl  and 
game,  we  sit  with  the  other  guests  on  the  stoop,  where 
Phyllis,  the  barmaid,  brings  us  spiced  sangaree  and  pipes. 
The  sun  is  sinking  behind  the  noble  forest  that  still  lines 
Broadway  on  the  west,  and  the  people  seek  their  stoops 
to  enjoy  the  evening  hour.  Nearly  all  these  have  their 
burden  of  beautiful  women  and  staid,  taciturn  men,  the 


65 

former  chatting  among  themselves  or  with  acquaint- 
ances, who,  strolling  by,  stop  for  neighborly  gossip. 
As  strangers   we   are   interested   in   the   scene   that 


A  Tea  Party. 

gradually  unfolds  before  us.  Carriages  filled  with  ladies 
and  gentlemen  roll  by,  and  among  them  the  governor's 
state  coach,  with  the  ladies  of  his  family  bowing  and 

TODD,    N.  Y.— 5 


66 

smiling.  From  the  fort  comes  the  measured  tread  of 
the  sentinel.  Lovers  stroll  by  arm  in  arm  on  their  way 
to  the  Bowling  Green,  the  maidens  of  a  beauty  so 
marked  that  English  travelers  will  note  the  fact  in  their 
books. 

Nor  are  the  common  people  wanting.  There  are 
laborers  and  artisans  in  toil-stained  frocks  and  leather 
breeches,  bare-armed  servant  girls  in  homespun  waists 
and  short  gowns,  turbaned  negresses  bringing  "  tea 
water  "  from  the  pump.  Soon  Gabriel  Carpesey,  the 
town  herdsman,  appears  driving  in  the  flocks  for  the 
evening  milking  from  the  common  lands  (at  the  present 
City  Hall  Park),  where  he  drove  them  to  pasture  in  the 
morning.  At  every  gate  he  stops  and  blows  his  horn 
to  tell  the  householder  that  his  cow  has  come  home. 

By  and  by  a  little  stir  up  the  street  attracts  our  atten- 
tion, and  looking  up,  there  comes  in  view  a  hunting  party 
of  Indians,  each  warrior  placing  his  foot  in  the  footprint  of 
the  one  preceding  him,  and  gazing  neither  left  nor  right. 
They  bear  to  market  haunches  of  venison,  wild  tur- 
keys, and  the  quarters  of  an  elk.  What  a  motley  array  ! 
For  instance,  one  sports  a  doublet  of  bearskin,  another 
is  clad  in  a  blanket  only,  a  third  stalks  along  in  a  coat 
of  raccoon  skins,  while  a  fourth  is  clad  in  a  mantle  made 
of  the  brilliant-hued  feathers  of  the  wild  turkey. 

The  sight  leads  a  stout  burgher  at  our  side  to  say : 
'•  Never  was  a  people  better  fed.  The  woods  swarm 
with  game,— elk,  deer,  bear,  hare,  turkeys,  partridges, 
quail, — and  the  waters  with  ducks,  geese,  and  swans. 
An  Indian  will  sell  a  buck  for  five  guilders.  The  wor- 
shipful patroon  De  Vries  once  shot  a  wild  turkey  that 


67 

weighed  thirty  pounds.  Hendrik  de  Backer  killed  once 
eleven  wild  geese  at  one  shot  of  his  big  goose  gun.  As 
to  fish,  we  have  sturgeon,  salmon,  bass,  drum,  shad,  cod, 
smelts,  sheepshead,  herring,  mackerel,  blackfish,  lobster, 
weakfish,  oysters,  clams,  and  scallops." 

Scarcely  have  the  Indians  passed  when  a  bell  in  the 
fort  tolls  heavily, — one,  two,  three,  up  to  nine, — and 
with  its  last  note  the  city  gates  close  with  a  clang.  It 
is  the  curfew  bell — the  **  farmers'  bell,"  the  people  call 
it,  perhaps  because  after  it  egress  to  the  farms  without 
is  shut  off  by  the  closing  of  the  gates. 

As  its  last  melodious  notes  sink  into  the  evening  air, 
the  lights  in  stores  and  houses  fade,  the  streets  cease  to 
echo  with  footsteps,  and  New  Amsterdam  sinks  into 
slumber. 

At  the  first  stroke  of  the  bell  comely  Gretchen  comes 
to  show  us  to  our  chamber.  It  is  a  large,  square  room 
overhead,  with  a  half-dozen  bunks  or  berths  set  into  the 
partition  wall,  and  closed  by  a  sort  of  trapdoor  that  lets 
down  on  hinges.  She  puts  the  tallow  candle  on  the 
mantel  and  departs.  We  prepare  for  rest  and  then 
inspect  our  quarters.  There  are  two  feather  beds  in 
each  bunk,  a  large  and  a  small  one.  We  j,ump  in  and 
pull  the  smaller  one  over  us  for  a  cover.  By  and  by 
Gretchen  returns,  closes  the  trapdoor,  and  removes  the 
candle,  leaving  us  to  sleep  peacefully  in  our  box.  Next 
morning  we  rise  early  and  go  for  a  stroll  on  the  Green. 
It  is  much  larger  than  the  Green  of  the  modern  city, 
with  finer  shade,  and  as  we  enter  it  we  meet  scores  of 
little  black  boys,  turbaned  Phyllises,  and  stout  peasant 
maids    rosy    of    cheek,    bareheaded    and    bare-armed, 


68 

bringing  water  from  the  town  pump  over  there  against 
the  fort  wall. 

As   it   happens,  next   day   is   Sunday,  and,  with   all 


A  Wedding  in  New  Amsterdam. 


respectable  New  Amsterdam,  we  go  to  church,  hoping  to 
see  more  of  the  people  and  their  ways.  The  church  is 
in  the  fort,  and  we  are  there  at  the  first  stroke  of  the 


6o 

bell,  being  rewarded  therefor  by  seeing  the  worship- 
ers pass  in  review  before  us.  There  are  two  great 
columns  that  converge  at  the  fort  gate,  one  coming 
down  Broadway,  the  other  up  Whitehall  Street  and  the 
ferry  road,  while  the  Green  rapidly  fills  with  the  wagons 
and  carts  of  the  country  people  who  have  come  from 
the  bouweries  in  the  upper  part  of  the  island  and  on 
the  Long  Island  shore. 

They  make  a  gallant  show,  this  company  of  church- 
goers, for  great  attention  is  paid  to  dress,  at  least  by 
gentlemen,  and  the  wealthy  Englishmen  and  French 
Huguenots  who  have  settled  in  New  Amsterdam  during 
the  past  twenty  years  have  introduced  rich  and  splendid 
costumes. 

The  ladies  wear  on  their  heads  colored  hoods  of  silk 
or  taffeta  instead  of  bonnets;  their  hair  is  curled  and 
frizzled,  and  sprinkled  with  powder;  on  their  fingers  are 
gold  and  diamond  rings,  golden  lockets  on  their  bosoms, 
and  attached  to  their  girdles  by  fine  gold  chains  are 
their  Bibles  and  psalm  books,  richly  bound  in  gold  and 
silver.  From  beneath  their  quilted  petticoats  their  feet, 
in  low  shoes  and  colored  hose,  **  like  little  mice  steal  in 
and  out."  The  petticoat  is  the  most  important  article 
of  feminine  attire  at  this  period.  The  rich  gown  is  cut 
away  in  front  to  display  it;  in  material  it  may  be  of 
cloth,  silk,  satin,  camlet,  or  grosgrain,  and  of  colors  to 
please  the  fancy  of  the  wearer,  red,  blue,  black,  white, 
and  purple  predominating. 

The  gentlemen  display  the  latest  London  or  Amster- 
dam fashions.  Their  heads  are  covered  with  powdered, 
full-bottomed  wigs,  and  the  wide  brims  of  their  soft  hats 


^6 

cire  looped  up  on  the  sides  with  rosettes.  Their  long 
coats  have  two  rows  of  silver  buttons  in  front,  and  the 
wide  pockets  are  trimmed  with  silver  lace ;  the  mate- 
rial is  colored  stuflf  and  black  velvet  and  broadcloth. 
Their  waistcoats,  or  doublets,  are  of  bright-colored  cloth 
or  velvet,  and  embroidered  with  silver  lace.  Their 
breeches,  generally  of  velvet,  end  at  the  knee  in  black 
silk  stockings,  and  they  wear  on  their  feet  low  shoes 
adorned  with  large  silver  buckles.  These  are  the  gen- 
try, of  course,  but  the  commonalty  are  well  represented 
— honest  Hans  in  loose  blouse  and  baggy  breeches  of 
homespun,  Katrina  in  linsey-woolsey  gown  and  petti- 
coat, with  deep  poke  bonnet  on  her  head. 

The  worshipers  have  nearly  all  entered  when  the 
carriage  of  Governor  Stuyvesant,  with  its  blazoned 
panels,  dashes  up,  and  the  governor  and  his  family 
alight — the  governor,  his  wife,  and  his  widowed  sister, 
Mrs.  Bayard.  The  former  bears  himself  like  a  soldier 
in  spite  of  the  wooden  leg,  bound  with  bands  of  silver, 
which  replaces  the  one  lost  in  honorable  fight  with  the 
Spanish  at  Saint  Martin.  Mrs.  Stuyvesant,  a  beautiful 
French  lady,  daughter  of  a  Huguenot  clergyman  of 
Paris,  is  famed  for  her  beauty  and  her  elegant  toilets. 

Let  us  follow  this  stately  party  into  the  church.  It 
is  a  plain,  bare  interior,  with  a  very  high  pulpit,  and 
over  it  a  sounding  board  like  a  bird  with  wings  out- 
spread. 

Scarcely  are  we  seated  ere  the  burgomasters  and 
schepens  in  their  black  official  robes  enter  from  the  ves- 
try, preceded  by  the  "  koeck,"  or  bell  ringer,  bearing 
the  cushion  for  the  official  pew,  and  followed  by  good   ^ 


Domine  Megapolensis,  also  in  black  robes.  At  the  foot 
of  the  pulpit  stairs  he  pauses  and  utters  a  silent  prayer, 
while  the  people  bow  their  heads.  As  he  takes  his  seat 
in  the  pulpit,  the  zeikentrooster,  or  lay  reader,  rises 
and  reads  the  morning  lesson. 

The  orderly  and  decorous  service  proceeds.  When 
the  sands  have  all  run  out  of  the  hourglass  before  him, 
the  zeikentrooster  announces  the  fact  by  three  taps  of 
his  cane,  and  the  domine  brings  his  sermon  to  a  close. 
Then  the  koeck  inserts  the  public  notices  to  be  read  in 
the  end  of  his  wand  of  office,  and  hands  them  up  to  the 
preacher.  This  being  done,  the  elders  rise  in  their  pews, 
while  the  minister  delivers  a  homily  on  the  duty  of 
remembering  the  poor,  after  which  the  elders  pass 
through  the  church,  and  receive  in  a  little  black  bag 
fastened  to  a  long  pole  the  alms  of  the  worshipers. 

Service  over,  the  people  proceed  to  their  homes, 
and  the  poor  schout-fiscal  is  relieved  of  his  task  of 
patrolling  the  streets,  seeing  that  no  taprooms  are  open, 
and  no  Indians  or  negro  slaves  gaming;  for  although 
Sunday  afternoon  is  a  holiday  for  the  latter,  an  ordinance 
sternly  forbids  their  playing  or  gaming  **  during  the 
hours  of  morning  service." 

With  the  afternoon  before  us,  we  can  follow  one  of  the 
wagons  which  has  come  down  from  the  Walloon  village 
on  the  Brooklyn  shore. 

The  wagon  with  the  farmer  and  his  stout,  rosy- 
cheeked  vrouw  passes  out  the  water  gate  by  which  we 
entered,  and  so  along  the  woodsy  road  to  the  ferry  house. 
The  latter  is  merely  an  open  shed  roofed  with  thatch 
and  extending  into  the  water,  so  that  the  flatboat  and 


^2 

two  or  three  skiffs  that  comprise  the  ferry  fleet  may  be 
moored  to  it.  CorneHs  Dircksen  and  his  strong-armed 
lads  are  at  hand,  since  it  is  Sunday  ;  had  it  been  a  week 
day  we  should  have  to  take  the  long  horn  that  hangs  on 


Ferry  to  Brooklyn. 


yonder  tree  and  blow  a  blast  as  loud  as  Roderick  Dhu's 
in  order  to  summon  them  from  their  work  in  the  fields. 
The  ferry  ordinances  are  posted  in  the  house,  together 
with  the  tariff  of  fares — a  two-horse  wagon  or  cart 
with  the  horses,  2  florins  ^  lO  stivers  ;  a  one-horse  wagon, 
2  florins;  for  every  man,  woman,  Indian,  or  squaw,  6 
stivers,  but  if  there  are  more  than  one  in  the  party  3 
stivers  each;  children  under  ten  years  of  age  half  fare; 
one  horse  or  horned  beast,  i  florin  10  stivers  ;  a  hogshead 
of  tobacco  16  stivers,  a  tun  of  beer  the  same,  and  smaller 
articles  in  proportion.  One  rule  stipulates  that  the 
ferryman  shall  be  bound  to  ferry  over  passengers  from 

1  A  florin  is  forty  cents  American  money,  a  stiver  one  cent. 


73 

five  in  the  morning  until  eight  at  night,  "  provided  the 
windmill  hath  not  taken  in  its  sail." 

The  tide  is  ebbing  swiftly  toward  Governors  Island, 
and  as  the  wind  blows  stiffly  against  it  there  is  an  ugly 
sea.  Consequently  the  unwieldy  boat  is  borne  steadily 
toward  the  island,  dancing  and  bobbing  on  the  choppy 
waves,  and  we  begin  to  fear  that  we  shall  be  wrecked 
on  its  rocky  shores,  when  the  men  succeed  in  getting 
her  into  the  slack  water  on  the  Brooklyn  side.  Then 
comes  the  long  pull  up  to  the  ferry  landing  at  the  foot 
of  the  later  Fulton  Street.  We  sympathize  with  Cor- 
nells when  he  mops  his  heated  brow  and  remarks  that 
it  is  "  a  long  pull  and  little  money,"  The  boat  has  been 
an  hour  in  crossing. 

There  is  a  ferry  house  here  also,  a  tavern,  and  a  few 
small  dwellings  of  laborers  and  workmen.  The  road 
runs  diagonally  up  the  Heights  and  on,  passing  scarcely 
a  house  on  the  way,  until  it  reaches  Flatbush,  some  five 
miles  distant,  where  there  is  a  considerable  settlement. 
At  the  Wallabout  (later  the  Navy  Yard)  the  Walloons 
have  a  pretty  village ;  but  the  modern  patrician  quarter, 
the  Heights,  is  crowned  with  nature's  temple,  the  prime- 
val forest,  as  is  almost  the  entire  site  of  the  modern  city. 

After  a  pleasant  visit  we  return  from  Brooklyn  and 
ride  out  by  the  Broad  Way,  or  "  land  gate."  The 
famous  thoroughfare  was  first  laid  out  as  a  cow  path 
from  the  fort  to  the  common  pasture  lands.  Now  it 
is  lined  with  residences  as  far  as  the  gate,  and  above 
that  winds  as  a  country  road  as  far  as  the  site  of  the 
modern  City  Hall,  where  it  ends  in  primeval  forest. 
The  Dutch  first  called  it  Heere  Straat  (Principal  Street), 


74 

later  Breede  Wig,  which  the  EngHsh  translated  Broad- 
way. Just  without  the  gate  is  the  West  India  Com- 
pany's garden,  afterwards  the  site  of  Trinity  church- 
yard. Next  above  is  the  farm  of  Jan  Jansen  Damen, 
and  next  to  that  the  company's  farm,  which  later  will  be 
confiscated  by  the  English,  who  will  call  it  the  "  King's 
Farm  "  and  grant  it  to  Trinity  Church.  This  farm  lies 
between  the  modern  Fulton  and  Chambers  streets. 
Above  this  lies  a  rough  tract  of  sixty-two  acres,  owned 
by  Annetje  Jans,  the  widow  of  Domine  Bogardus.  It 
will  be  sold  in  1670  by  a  part  of  her  heirs  to  Governor 
Lovelace,  and  he  not  being  able  to  pay  for  it,  it  will  be 
seized  by  his  successor,  Governor  Andros,  and  known  as 
the  "  Duke's  Farm,"  and  later  granted  to  Trinity  Church 
by  Queen  Anne. 

At  this  time  (1664)  New  Amsterdam  contains  two 
hundred  and  twenty  houses  and  fourteen  hundred 
people. 


VII.    THE   ENGLISH    COLONIAL   PERIOD. 

WE  return  now  to  take  up  the  thread  of  hiter  his- 
tory. Henceforth  for  one  hundred  and  eleven 
years,  except  for  a  brief  period,  New  York  was  to  remain 
a  British  colony.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  change 
was  a  beneficial  one.  Instead  of  a  mere  trading  post, 
governed  by  a  commercial  monopoly  and  surrounded 
by  hostile  colonies,  she  now  became  one  of  several  prov- 
inces under  the  same  government,  speaking  the  same 
tongue,  and  having  the  same  general  interests.  She  did 
not  achieve  full  liberty,  but  she  had  uiorc  liberty.  In 
treating  of  this  period  we  shall  have  space  for  only  the 
more  important  events,  and  shall  give  due  prominence 
to  the  one  great  principle  which  underlay  the  rest — the 
struggle  of  the  people  for  their  rights,  and  especially  for 
the  right  to  govern  themselves. 

Twenty  royal  governors  ruled  New  York  during  this 
period,  under  eight  kings  and  queens — Charles  II.  and 
James  II.  of  the  Stuart  line,  William  and  Mary  of  the 
house  of  Orange,  Queen  Anne  of  the  Stuart  line  again, 
and  lastly  the  Georges  I.,  II.,  and  III.  of  the  Brunswick 
line.^     As  a  rule  the  royal  governors  were  not  noted  for 

1  The  names  of  these  governors,  with  their  terms  of  office,  were : 
Richard  Nicolls,  1664-1668;  Francis  Lovelace,  1668-1673:  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,    1674-1682;    Thomas   Dongan,    1683-1689;    Henry  Sloughter, 

75 


76 

patriotism  or  Statesmanship.  A  few  were  men  of 
sagacity  and  experience  in  public  affairs,  who  were  ap- 
pointed because  of  their  fitness.  Colonel  Nicolls,  the 
first,  was  one  of  the  most  capable.  Certain  problems  and 
difficulties  confronted  him  that  were  not  met  with  by 
his  successors.  A  conquered  people  was  to  be  placated, 
new  conditions  were  to  be  established,  special  laws  pro- 
vided. Nicolls  performed  the  task  with  tact  and  discre- 
tion. The  Dutch  were  secured  in  their  homes,  business, 
and  religion,  and  for  nearly  a  year  were  left  in  posses- 
sion of  their  city  government.  Then,  when  their  fear 
and  suspicion  of  the  English  had  been  greatly  allayed, 
the  latter  was  changed  to  the  English  form ;  schout, 
burgomasters,  and  schepens  giving  place  to  mayor, 
aldermen,  and  councilors. 

A  code  of  laws  was  framed  called  the  "  Duke's  Laws," 
more  liberal  in  many  respects  than  those  of  the  Dutch. 
Trial  by  jury  was  established,  a  court  of  sessions  also 
for  the  city,  and  a  justice  court  for  each  town,  with  the 
right  of  appeal  to  the  higher  court.  Treason,  murder, 
kidnaping,  striking  parents,  denying  the  true  God, 
and  some  other  crimes  were  punishable  by  death.  Slav- 
ery was  permitted,  but  no  Christians  were  to  be  enslaved 

1691  (died  July  23,  1691);  Benjamin  Fletcher,  1692-1698;  Earl  of 
Bellomont,  1698  (died  March  5,  1701);  Lord  Cornbury,  1702-1708; 
Lord  Lovelace,  1708  (died  May  6,  1709);  Robert  Hunter,  1710-1719; 
William  Burnet,  1720-1728;  Lord  John  Montgomery,  1728  (died  July 
I,  1731);  William  Cosby,  1732  (died  March  10,  1736);  George  Clinton, 
1743-1753;  Sir  Danvers  Osborne,  1753  (died  October  12,  1753);  Sir 
Charles  Hardy,  1755-1757;  Robert  Monckton,  1761-1765;  Sir  Henry 
Moore,  1 765-1 770;  Earl  of  Dunmore,  1770;  Sir  William  Tryon,  1 771 
(deposed  in  the  Revolution).  The  interregnums  between  some  of  these 
dates  were  filled  by  lieutenant  governors  or  provisional  governors. 


n 

except  criminals  sentenced  by  lawful  authority.  In 
order  to  trade  with  the  Indians  merchants  must  procure 
a  license.  No  Indian  was  allowed  to  powwow,  or  per- 
form incantations  to  the  devil.  No  sect  was  to  be  favored 
above  another,  and  no  Christian  was  to  be  molested  for 
his  religious  opinions.  The  patents  of  the  great  patroons 
were  confirmed  to  them  under  the  English  titles  of 
"  manors."  The  Dutch  were  secured  in  their  ownership 
of  the  great  stone  church  in  the  fort,  and  worshiped 
there  in  the  morning,  yielding  it  to  the  English  congre- 
gation in  the  afternoon. 

During  the  war  of  England  against  the  Netherlands 
and  France  (1665-1667),  New  York  was  in  constant 
apprehension  of  an  attack  from  the  Dutch  fleet,  but  es- 
caped for  the  time.  In  the  second  war  of  England  against 
the  Netherlands  (1672-1674),  in  which  the  former  had 
France  for  an  ally.  New  York  was  not  so  fortunate. 
In  the  spring  of  1673  the  Dutch  dispatched  a  squadron 
under  command  of  two  brave  admirals,  Evertsen  and 
Binckes,  to  recover  their  lost  territory  in  America,  and 
to  inflict  as  much  damage  as  possible  on  English  com- 
merce in  those  seas. 

On  the  29th  of  June  the  sentinel  on  Fort  James  (as 
Fort  Amsterdam  had  been  named)  saw  this  fleet  enter 
and  cast  anchor  in  the  lower  bay,  with  some  twenty 
EngHsh  prizes  in  tow. 

Governor  Lovelace,  who  had  succeeded  Nicolls  in 
1668,  was  in  Hartford  consulting  with  Governor  Win- 
throp  of  Connecticut  concerning  the  defense  of  the  two 
colonies,  and  a  messenger  was  at  once  sent  posthaste  for 
him,  while  Captain  Manning,  in  command  of  Fort  James, 


78 

charged  his  guns,  and  sent  his  drummers  out  to  beat  the 
alarm.  The  Dutch  admirals,  however,  were  as  sensible 
of  the  value  of  time  as  Nicolls  had  been  in  1664.  They 
forthwith  moved  their  fleet  to  within  a  musket  shot  of 
the  fort,  and  sent  Manning  a  laconic  summons  to  sur- 
render. **  We  have  come  for  our  own,"  they  added 
grimly,  *'  and  our  own  we  will  have."  Manning  sought 
to  gain  time  by  asking  for  terms,  but  Evertsen  replied 
that  he  had  already  promised  protection  to  life  and 
property,  and  that  if  the  Dutch  flag  was  not  hoisted  over 
the  fort  in  half  an  hour  he  should  fire  on  it;  **  and  the 
glass  is  already  turned  up,"  he  added  significantly. 

But  Manning  refused  to  surrender,  and  when  the  half 
hour  had  expired  the  fleet  fired  a  broadside  into  the  fort, 
killing  several  and  wounding  more.  At  the  same  time 
a  detachment  of  six  hundred  Dutch  landed  at  a  point 
behind  the  present  Trinity  Church,  and  assailed  the 
garrison  in  the  rear.  Manning,  finding  the  odds  too 
great,  surrendered,  and  was  allowed  to  march  out  with 
the  honors  of  war,  drums  beating  and  colors  flying; 
while  the  dragon  flag  fluttered  down  from  the  fort,  and 
the  blue,  white,  and  orange  was  again  triumphantly 
raised  over  it.  A  second  time  the  fort  was  renamed, 
this  time  William  Hendrik,  and  the  province  called  New 
Orange,  both  after  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  the  pride 
and  hope  of  the  Dutch  state. 

But  the  city  did  not  long  remain  in  possession  of  the 
Dutch,  for  in  the  treaty  of  Westminster  (1674)  they 
relinquished  forever  all  claims  to  their  former  territory 
of  New  Netherlands.  Lovelace  did  not  return  as  gov- 
ernor, however.  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  a  member  of  King 


79 

Charles's  household  and  bailiff  of  Guernsey,  having  been 
appointed  in  his  place.  The  principal  event  of  Andros's 
reign  was  the  granting  to  New  York  by  James  of  a 
provincial  assembly.  * 

The  people  quickly  found  that,  although  their  condi- 
tion was  more  tolerable  than  under  Stuyvesant,  they 
were  still  ruled  by  one  man,  the  Duke  of  York,  three 
thousand  miles  away.  They  desired  a  voice  in  the  man- 
agement of  their  own  affairs,  as  had  the  colonies  to  the 
east  and  south  of  them  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1681  they 
sent  to  the  duke  a  petition  signed  by  many  thousand 
citizens,  praying  that  he  would  henceforth  govern  them 
by  means  of  a  council,  assembly,  and  governor,  as  was 
done  by  the  king  in  his  colonies. 

James  carefully  considered  the  matter,  and  on  being 
advised  that  in  order  to  collect  a  revenue  it  would  be 
necessary  to  give  the  province  an  assembly,  granted  the 
prayer  of  the  petitioners.  But  as  Andros  by  his  haughty 
manner  and  tyrannical  acts  had  become  obnoxious  to 
the  people,  he  decided  to  recall  him  and  appoint  Thomas 
Dongan,  a  tried  soldier,  who  as  lieutenant  governor  of 
Tangier  in  Africa  had  had  experience  in  governing. 
Dongan  reached  the  city  in  August,  1683,  and  one  of 
his  first  official  acts  was  to  issue  writs  for  deputies  to  the 
first  Provincial  Assembly  of  New  York,  who  were  to  be 
elected  by  the  people. 

From  these  ancient  writs  we  learn  that  New  York's 
bounds  then  extended  east  as  far  as  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  included  the  islands  of  Nantucket,  Marthas 
Vineyard,  and  Long  Island.  The  districts  that  returned 
deputies  to  this  first  assembly  were  New  York,  Albany, 


8o 

Rensselaerwyck,  Esopus  on  the  Hudson,  Long  Island, 
Staten  Island,  Pemaquid,  and  Marthas  Vineyard,  the 
whole  number  of  members  being  eighteen,  most  of  them 
Dutch  in  nationality.  This  first  assembly  of  New  York 
convened  on  October  i  7,  1683,  with  Matthias  Nicolls  as 
speaker,  and  sat  for  three  weeks.  Its  first  act  was  to 
accept  a  *'  Charter  of  Liberties  and  Privileges,"  which 
had  been  granted  by  the  duke.  This  instrument  pro- 
vided for  self-government,  self-taxation,  and  freedom  of 
conscience,  three  principles  which  the  people  had  long 
been  striving  for.  Another  act  levied  a  duty  on  goods 
imported.  A  third  created  four  courts  of  justice — a  town 
court,  a  county  court,  a  general  court  of  oyer  and  ter- 
miner, and  a  supreme  court,  the  latter  composed  of  the 
governor  and  council ;  even  from  the  latter  court  an 
appeal  might  be  had  to  the  king.  This  assembly  also 
passed  a  naturalization  act  by  which  all  residents  of  the 
colony  except  slaves  might  become  citizens  by  profess- 
ing Christianity  and  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  king. 

But  before  King  Charles  could  sign  this  charter,  and 
thereby  make  it  a  law,  he  died  (February  6,  1685),  and 
James  ascended  the  throne.  Now  that  their  patron  and 
proprietor  was  on  the  throne  the  people  looked  for  even 
greater  favors ;  but  alas !  they  soon  found  that  James  the 
king  was  a  very  different  person  from  James  the  duke. 
As  king  he  discovered  that  the  Charter  of  Liberties  and 
Privileges  was  too  liberal,  and  refused  to  confirm  it, 
although  he  allowed  the  colonists  to  enjoy  its  provisions 
during  hispleasure.  However,  this  made  very  little  differ- 
ence, for  in  November,  1688,  the  Dutch  prince,  William 


Si 

of  Orange,  who  had  married  James's  daughter  Mary, 
landed  in  England  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 
whereupon  James  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  son-in-law 
and  daughter.  You  can  learn  all  about  the  causes  of 
this  revolt,  which  makes  an  interesting  story,  in  your 
Macaulay  or  Green. 

Before  his  abdication,  however,  James  had  matured  a 
plot  against  his  American  colonies  in  the  north  that  was 
intended  to  deprive  them  of  their  long-cherished  liber- 
ties. He  issued  a  decree  in  the  spring  of  1688  uniting 
all  the  colonies  north  of  the  fortieth  parallel  in  one  great 
province,  to  be  called  New  England.  It  included  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  and  the  New  England  colonies,  Penn- 
sylvania being  excepted.  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  whom 
the  colonists  already  disliked,  was  named  governor  of 
the  united  province,  with  headquarters  at  Boston,  and 
arrived  in  New  York  in  August,  1688,  to  receive  the 
submission  of  the  people.  He  came  in  state,  accom- 
panied by  a  large  and  imposing  retinue.  The  City  Guard, 
a  regiment  of  foot  and  a  troop  of  horse,  in  shining  regi- 
mentals, received  him  and  escorted  him  to  Fort  James, 
where  his  commission  was  read  to  the  assembled  people ; 
later  it  was  read  in  the  City  Hall  to  a  more  select  audi- 
ence. The  seal  of  New  York  was  brought  into  the  gov- 
ernor's presence,  and  broken  and  defaced  by  order  of 
the  king,  and  the  great  seal  of  New  England  was 
adopted  in  its  place. 

These  things  related  more  to  the  province,  however, 
than  to  the  city.  One  thing  James  did  for  the  latter 
during  his  brief  reign  for  which  we  should  hold  him  in 
grateful  remembrance :  he  gave  her  the  Great  Charter, 

TODD,   N.   Y.— 6 


82 

On  which,  as  on  a  firm  foundation,  the  subsequent  char- 
ters of  1708  and  1730  were  based.  This  instrument 
confirmed  all  previous  "  rights  and  privileges  "  granted 
the  city,  and  gave  it  in  addition  the  City  Hall,  the  great 
dock  and  bridge  (probably  the  bridge  over  the  canal 
in  Broad  Street),  the  two  market  houses,  the  ferry, 
aiid  the  vacant,  unpatented  shore  lands  above  low-water 
mark.  Most  of  these  vested  rights  we  still  enjoy,  and 
they  are  yielding  the  city  large  revenues  to-day,  mostly 
in  docks  and  ferries. 

The  people  of  New  England  especially  were  very 
much  incensed  against  King  James  for  thus  depriving 
them  of  their  chartered  rights,  as  well  as  against  Andros, 
his  agent,  and  the  moment  that  news  of  the  former's 
abdication  reached  Boston  her  citizens  seized  Andros 
and  thrust  him  into  prison. 


VIII.    THE    ENGLISH    COLONIAL   PERIOD 
(ConliHued)—hElSLER'S    REVOLT. 

A  CHAOTIC  condition  of  affairs  arose  in  New  York 
as  the  result  of  the  abdication  of  James  and  the 
imprisonment  of  Andros.  Two  factions  at  once  ap- 
peared, composed,  as  to  race,  of  the  English  against  the 
Dutch ;  as  to  class,  of  the  aristocrats  against  the  com- 
moners ;  as  to  religion,  of  the  Church  of  England  against 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church. 

The  strife  was  as  to  who  should  rule  the  city.  The 
English  held  that  the  officers  appointed  by  James  then 
in  power  should  stand  until  their  successors  should  be 
appointed  by  William  and  Mary,  in  which  position  they 
had  law  and  precedent  on  their  side.  The  Dutch  party 
held  that  with  the  flight  of  James  his  authority  ceased 
in  the  colonies  as  much  as  in  England,  and  thaft  there- 
fore the  people  under  their  charter  should  appoint  offi- 
cers to  rule  until  the  pleasure  of  William  should  be 
known.  Lieutenant  Governor  Nicholson  and  the  three 
members  of  Governor  Andros's  council,  Frederick 
Pliillipse,  Mayor  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Nicholas 
Bayard,  were  the  leaders  of  the  English  party.  Phillipse 
was  lord  of  the  manor  of  Phillipseborough ;  his  old 
manor  house  you  may  still  see  in  the  heart  of  the  city 

83 


84 


of  Yonkers,  in  use  as  the  city  hall.     Van  Cortlandt  was 
mayor,  and  had  been  judge  of  the  admiralty.     Bayard 


Phillipse  Manor  House  (now  City  Hall), 
Yonkers. 

was  a  connection  of  Stuyvesant,  ^;^-^^''.-^" 

had   been    mayor  of    the    city,       -   --  -^^^ 

and  was  now  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  ci-ty  militia. 

The  leaders  of  the  democratic  party  were  Jacob 
Leisler  and  Jacob  Millborne.  Leisler  was  German 
born,  but  had  lived  in  New  York  some  thirty  years. 
He  was  a  prosperous  merchant,  a  deacon  in  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church,  captain  of  one  of  the  six  train  bands 
which  made  up  Colonel  Bayard's  regiment  of  militia,  a 
man  of  much  energy  and  force  of  character,  but  unedu- 
cated, self-willed,  passionate,  and  unbalanced  in  judg- 
ment ;  a  fanatic  on  the  subject  of  popery,  a  stern  hater 
of  the  English,  their  church,  and  their  institutions. 
Millborne  was  Leisler's  son-in-law,  a  man  of  better  edu- 
cation, but  of  far  less  principle. 

The  struggle  for  power  began  on  April  29,  1689,  by 
Leisler's  refusing  to  pay  the  duties  on  a  cargo  of  wine 


8s 

he  had  imported,  "  because,"  he  said,  "  Collector 
Ploughman  was  a  papist,  and  therefore  not  qualified  to 
perform  his  duties  under  the  Protestant  sovereigns 
William  and  Mary." 

A  long  discussion  in  the  City  Hall  between  the  coun- 
cil and  Leisler  was  ended  by  the  latter's  declaring  that 
he  would  never  pay  a  penny  to  Ploughman.  And  now 
strange  rumors  began  to  be  whispered  about  the  town 
by  the  ignorant  burghers.  It  was  said  that  Lieutenant 
Governor  Nicholson  was  plotting  to  betray  the  city  to 
the  French.  His  papist  emissaries  filled  the  woods  on 
Staten  Island,  and  mef  him  nightly  in  consultation. 
King  James,  who  had  fled  to  France,  was  on  the  seas 
wnth  a  French  fleet,  to  whom  Nicholson  would  deliver 
up  the  city.  The  chief  Dutch  citizens  had  already  been 
won  over  to  poper}^  Ex-Governor  Dongan,  who  still 
lingered  in  New  York,  had  formed  a  plot  to  murder  the 
Protestants  and  yield  the  city  to  the  Catholics.  These 
and  many  other  disquieting  rumors  flew  about.  This 
fear  and  unrest  of  the  public  mind  must  be  considered 
in  order  to  understand  what  followed. 

A  very  little  thing  at  last  brought  on  the  conflict. 
Nicholson  resided  in  the  governor's  house  in  the  fort, 
and  coming  in  late  one  night  found  a  member  of  the 
militia  company  which  had  been  detailed  to  guard  the 
fort  standing  sentinel  at  the  gate.  This  was  contrary 
to  regulations,  and  calling  the  sergeant  in  command,  he 
reprimanded  him.  The  latter  replied  that  Lieutenant 
Cuyler  had  ordered  it,  and  that  officer  in  turn  laid 
the  blame  on  his  superior  officer.  Captain  de  Peyster. 
Nicholson,  who  distrusted  the  militia,  fell  into  a  passion 


J- 


86 

at  this,  and  said  he  would  rather  see  the  town  in  flames 
than  be  spied  upon  and  overruled  by  his  militia  cap- 
tains. This  was  at  once  tortured  into  a  threat  to  burn 
the  city,  and  soon  the  rumor  flew  about  that  the  gov- 
ernor had  formed  a  plot  to  fire  the  city  and  murder  all 
the  Dutch  citizens  the  next  Sunday  as  they  came  to 
church  in  the  fort.  The  six  train  bands  which  formed 
the  city  militia  were  nearly  all  Dutch,  and,  led  by  Leisler, 
they  now  determined,  in  order  to  save  their  hves  and 
property,  to  seize  the  fort  and  government. 

The  Sunday  came, — May  31,  1689, — and  at  noon  a 
single  drumbeat  was  heard.  Captain  Leisler's  com- 
pany at  once  mustered  before  his  house,  and  was  led 
by  Sergeant  Stoll  to  the  fort,  where  Lieutenant  Cuyler, 
who  was  in  charge,  admitted  them.  In  a  few  moments 
Leisler  appeared  and  took  command.  On  hearing  of 
this,  Colonel  Bayard,  commander  of  the  militia,  went  to 
the  fort  and  ordered  the  soldiers  to  disperse;  but  Stoll 
coolly  told  him  that  they  disowned  all  authority  of  the 
Andros  government.  Having  no  force  to  defend  him- 
self. Lieutenant  Governor  Nicholson  made  no  resistance, 
and  shortly  after  sailed  for  England  to  lay  the  matter 
before  King  William,  leaving  affairs  in  the  hands  of  his 
three  councilors. 

Leisler,  by  virtue  of  his  command  over  the  City  Guard, 
now  ruled  as  governor  of  the  city.  His  first  act  was  to 
write  an  address  to  William  and  Mary  in  behalf  of  "  the 
militia  and  inhabitants  of  New  York,"  describing  the 
revolution  and  its  causes,  and  pledging  to  them  the  loyal 
support  of  himself  and  those  acting  with  him.  At  first 
he  governed  with  justice  and  moderation,  but  he  seems 


87 

soon  to  have  become  intoxicated  with  the  possession  of 
unlimited  power,  and  treated  those  opposed  to  him  with 
great  arrogance  and  even  cruelty.  About  the  middle 
of  June  two  envoys  came  from  Hartford  bearing  orders 
to  proclaim  William  and  Mary  in  New  York,  as  they  had 
shortly  before  been  proclaimed  in  Boston  and  Hartford. 
The  envoys  also  bore  a  royal  proclamation  confirming  all 
Protestant  officers  in  the  colonies  in  their  places.  This 
was  fatal  to  the  claims  of  Leisler  and  his  party,  and 
spurred  them  on  to  the  rash  and  fatal  extremity  of 
resistance.  Mayor  Van  Cortlandt  rode  far  up  into 
Westchester  to  intercept  the  envoys,  but  Leisler  man- 
aged to  secure  both  proclamations  from  them,  and  read 
the  first  named  in  the  fort  on  the  22d,  although  Mayor 
Van  Cortlandt  demanded  that  they  should  be  delivered 
to  him  as  the  lawful  authority.  Two  days  later  the 
mayor  succeeded  in  securing  a  copy  of  the  second  proc- 
lamation, which  constituted  himself  and  his  colleagues, 
Phillipse  and  Bayard,  the  only  legal  government,  since 
they  were  Protestants  and  had  received  their  commis- 
sions from  the  crown.  The  three  met  with  the  common 
council  to  consult  on  the  best  plan  of  regaining  their 
authority  without  provoking  civil  war.  Their  first  act 
was  to  remove  the  collector  of  the  port,  who  was  a 
Catholic,  and  therefore  ineligible,  and  to  appoint  in  his 
place  four  commissioners,  all  Protestants,  to  perform  his 
duties.  Scarcely  had  they  begun,  however,  when  Leis- 
ler, at  the  head  of  a  body  of  militia,  marched  in  and 
peremptorily  ordered  them  out  of  the  room.  Bayard 
sternly  reminded  him  that  they  were  there  by  order  of 
the  kin^,  and  that;  resistance  to  them  would  be   high 


88 

treason,  and  punishable  with  death.  Leisler  in  reply 
began  a  long  speech  in  which  the  words  *'  rogues,"  *'  trai- 
tors," and  **  devils  "  were  freely  applied  to  the  commis- 
sioners. Even  while  he  was  speaking  one  of  his  soldiers 
seized  a  commissioner  and  dragged  him  into  the  street, 
where  he  was  sadly  beaten  by  the  mob.  Bayard  him- 
self was  attacked,  but  succeeded  in  beating  off  his  assail- 
ants and  escaping  to  a  house  near  by,  which  was  at  once 
besieged  by  the  mob ;  he,  however,  contrived  to  elude 
them  and  regain  his  own  house.  Then  the  rabble  pa- 
raded the  streets,  hooting  and  shouting  for  the  blood  of 
the  aristocrats.  Their  slogan  was,  "  The  rogues  have 
sixty  men  sworn  to  kill  Captain  Leisler."  Bayard's 
friends  came  to  him  next  morning,  told  him  what  pas- 
sions were  moving  the  commonalty,  and  besought  him 
to  flee  from  the  city;  he  was  at  length  persuaded,  and 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  Albany.  Van  Cortlandt  re- 
mained, and  continued  to  act  as  mayor  until  the  next 
October,  when  his  house  was  attacked,  and  he  was  forced 
to  flee  for  safety  to  Governor  Treat  of  Connecticut. 

Leisler  was  now  sole  master  of  the  city,  and  with  his 
lieutenant  and  ally,  Millborne,  committed  many  more 
acts  of  violence  and  oppression ;  but  at  last  retribution 
came.  As  soon  as  King  William's  ministers  turned  their 
attention  to  New  York's  affairs,  they  wrote  a  letter  to 
Lieutenant  Governor  Nicholson,  ordering  him  to  as- 
sume the  government,  call  the  leading  citizens  to  his 
assistance,  and  *'  do  and  perform  all  the  requirements  of 
the  office,"  they  supposing  him  at  the  time  to  be  in  New 
York,  whereas  he  was,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  sea. 
By  some  fatality  this  letter  was  not  addressed  to  him  by 


89 

name,  but  simply  to  **  Our  Lieutenant  Governor  and 
Commander  in  Chief  of  our  Province  of  New  York  in 
America,  and  in  his  absence  to  such  as,  for  the  time 
being,  take  care  for  preserving  the  peace  and  adminis- 
tering the  laws  in  our  said  Province  of  New  York  in 
America."  Leisler  refused  to  allow  the  council  to  re- 
ceive this  letter.  The  king,  he  said,  knew  that  he 
was  at  the  head  of  the  government,  and  intended  the 
letter  for  him. 

The  council  protested,  but  Leisler  had  the  men  at 
arms  and  the  guns,  and  the  messenger  delivered  the 
packet  to  him,  whereupon  he  turned  upon  the  council- 
ors, called  them  popishly  affected  dogs  and  rogues,  and 
bade  them  begone ;  he  then  proclaimed  that  the  king  had 
appointed  him  lieutenant  governor,  and  at  once  entered 
on  the  duties  of  the  office,  named  a  council  and  other 
officers,  had  William  and  Mary  proclaimed  a  second 
time,  and  on  the  Sabbath  rode  to  the  Dutch  church  and 
sat  in  the  governor's  pew,  while  his  councilors  seated 
themselves  in  the  pew  reserved  for  the  magistrates. 

Meantime  Lieutenant  Governor  Nicholson  had  reached 
London  and  laid  his  case  before  the  king  and  the  com- 
mittee on  plantations,  who  sustained  him  in  all  that  he  had 
done ;  but  as  he  had  been  embroiled  in  the  factional  fights 
there,  they  did  not  name  him  governor  of  New  York, 
but  made  him  lieutenant  governor  of  Virginia.  Colonel 
Henry  Sloughter  was  appointed  governor  of  New  York, 
but  owing  to  the  Irish  troubles  and  other  causes  did  not 
reach  his  government  until  nearly  a  year  had  elapsed. 
Leisler,  having  secured  the  chief  authority,  was  placated 
to  a  certain  extent,  so  that  Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel  Bay- 


90 

ard,  and  other  exiles  ventured  to  return  to  their  famiHes ; 
but  they  were  not  long  left  in  peace. 

In  the  winter  of  1690,  having  reason  to  suspect  that 
these  gentlemen  had  sent  letters  of  complaint  to  the 
king,  Leisler  seized  the  Boston  post  rider  as  he  rode 
through  Westchester,  confiscated  his  mail  bag,  and 
found  among  its  contents,  as  he  had  expected,  letters 
from  Van  Cortlandt,  Bayard,  and  others  complaining 
bitterly  of  his  acts.  He  at  once  proclaimed  that  he  had 
discovered  a  "hellish  conspiracy"  against  his  govern- 
ment, and  that  Colonel  Bayard  was  the  instigator  of  it. 
He  therefore  sent  a  file  of  soldiers,  who  seized  that  unfor- 
tunate gentleman,  loaded  him  with  chains,  and  thrust 
him  into  the  common  jail,  where  he  received  the  same 
treatment  as  was  meted  out  to  the  worst  malefactors. 
Another  file  was  sent  against  Van  Cortlandt,  who 
escaped,  but  William  Nicolls,  attorney-general  of  the 
province,  was  seized  and  thrust  into  the  same  prison 
with  Colonel  Bayard.  They  languished  in  jail  many 
months. 

By  the  summer  of  1690  complaints,  petitions,  and 
addresses  from  the  people  of  New  York  began  to  rain  in 
upon  King  William,  beseeching  him  to  deliver  them 
from  the  oppressor.  These  came  not  only  from  the  Eng- 
lish, but  from  the  Dutch  residents  of  New  York.  One 
was  signed  by  the  Dutch  and  French  clergymen  as  well 
as  by  leading  citizens.  William,  aroused  by  them,  told 
Governor  Sloughter  that  he  must  proceed  to  New  York 
at  once,  and  bring  peace  and  order  to  the  distracted 
city.  Sloughter  complied,  and  in  December,  1690, 
sailed   in   the   frigate  Archangel,  while   Major  Richard 


91 

Ingoldsby,  the  lieutenant  governor,  followed  in  the 
Beaver ;  two  smaller  vessels  accompanied  them.  With 
Governor  Sloughter  sailed  two  companies  of  soldiers,  and 
all  the  petitions,  complaints,  and  documents  in  the  case 
of  Leisler  were  given  him,  with  orders  to  make  a  careful 
and  impartial  investigation  of  the  whole  matter.  ^^^^ 

Sloughter  also  bore  a  system  of  government  for  the 
province,  which  differed  little  from  that  of  James,  and 
continued  in  force  to  the  Revolution.  It  provided  for  a 
governor  and  council  to  be  appointed  by  the  king,  and 
an  assembly  to  be  elected  by  the  people.  All  peaceable 
persons  "except  papists"  were  assured  liberty  of  con- 
science, but  the  Church  of  England  was  made  the  state 
church  and  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop 
of  London.  The  members  of  the  old  King  James 
council  were  nearly  all  retained  and  confirmed  in  their 
offices. 

News  of  the  sailing  of  the  fleet  came  to  New  York  by 
way  of  Bo.ston,  and  its  arrival  was  anxiously  awaited  by 
all  parties.  At  last,  on  January  29,  1691,  a  sail  was 
sighted  far  down  the  Narrows,  then  a  second  and  third, 
and  it  was  known  that  the  long-expected  fleet  had 
arrived ;  but  the  fourth  sail  did  not  appear,  and  this 
laggard,  most  unfortunately  for  all  parties,  was  the 
ArcJiaiigcl,  the  vessel  that  bore  the  governor  and  all 
the  papers  and  commissions.  Scarcely  had  the  Beaver 
anchored  and  saluted  the  fort  ere  she  was  boarded  by 
Phillipse  and  other  members  of  the  Nicholson  govern- 
ment, who  inquired  eagerly  for  the  governor. 

"  I  know  not  where  he  is,"  said  Ingoldsby  ;  *'  we  were 
separated  these  many  days  back  by  a  great  storm,  and 


92 

where  the  Archangel  is,  or  whether  she  be  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea,  no  man  may  tell." 

This  was  a  great  disappointment ;  yet  they  tried  to 
induce  the  lieutenant  governor  to  act.  Rapidly  they 
sketched  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  city, — the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor  prisoners,  the  discontent  of  the  people 
under  Leisler's  harsh  government,  the  latter's  high- 
handed acts  of  treason  and  violence, — and  urged  In- 
goldsby  to  make  a  demand  at  once  for  the  fort  and  gov- 
ernment. The  latter  consented,  and  sent  a  messenger 
to  Leisler  demanding  the  fort  for  the  king's  soldiers  and 
stores. 

**  Your  authority?  "  replied  Leisler. 

"  My  ships  and  my  soldiers,"  was  the  quick  response. 

But  Leisler  would  not  yield  ;  he  must  see  the  lieuten- 
ant governor's  commission  from  the  king;  but  this  was 
in  the  Archangel  with  Sloughter,  as  Leisler  well  knew. 
Uncertain  how  to  act,  Ingoldsby  remained  cooped  up  in 
his  ships  for  several  days,  afraid  to  land,  since  Leisler 
had  the  fort  and  the  troops ;  but  at  length,  on  being 
assured  that  the  people  were  with  him,  he  disembarked 
his  soldiers  and  took  post  in  the  City  Hall,  which  Leis- 
ler had  offered  for  that  purpose.  When  safely  installed 
there  he  sent  a  letter  to  Leisler  ordering  him  to  release 
Bayard  and  Nicolls  (still  confined  in  the  fort),  because 
they  had  been  named  as  members  of  his  Majesty's 
council;  but  this  threw  Leisler  into  a  terrible  rage. 

"What!  those  popish  dogs  and  rogues?"  he  cried, 
and  returned  word  that  he  should  hold  them  until  his 
Majesty's  further  orders  arrived. 

Six  weeks  now  passed,  this  condition  of  things  being 


93 

maintained,  the  king's  lieutenant  governor  in  the  City 
Hall,  his  authority  defied,  and  the  king's  councilors  in 
the  common  jail. 

At  length  Leisler  committed  an  overt  act  of  treason 
and  murder.  Learning  that  Ingoldsby  and  the  coun- 
cilors had  gathered  a  force  of  several  hundred  men  in 
the  city,  he  sent  them  word  to  disperse  under  pain  of 
being  attacked  and  destroyed.  Two  hours  to  consider 
were  given ;  but  the  governor  replied  at  once.  He 
should  preserve  the  peace,  he  said,  and  whoever  should 
attack  him  would  render  themselves  public  enemies  to 
the  crown  of  England. 

At  the  time  the  message  was  sent  Ingoldsby's  two 
companies  were  drawn  up  on  the  **  Parade,"  probably 
the  Bowling  Green,  and  Leisler,  on  receiving  the  reply, 
ordered  a  gun  to  be  trained  on  them  at  once  and  fired ; 
several  shots  were  also  sent  into  a  house  where  the 
soldiers  lodged.  When  the  smoke  cleared  away  it  was 
seen  that  two  British  soldiers  had  been  killed  by  the  fire 
and  several  wounded.  The  English  fired  at  the  fort  in 
return,  but  injured  no  one. 

Happily,  next  day,  as  the  parties  stood  confronting 
each  other,  the  Archangel  was  signaled  in  the  lower 
bay.  Word  was  quickly  sent  to  Governor  Sloughter, 
who  hurried  to  the  city  in  a  pinnace,  and  went  to  the 
City  Hall,  where  his  commission  was  immediately  read, 
although  it  was  dark  when  he  arrived.  Both  the  gov- 
ernor and  council,  except  the  two  imprisoned  in  the 
fort,  then  took  the  oath  of  office. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  but  Ingoldsby  was  at 
once  sent  with  his  soldiers  to  the  fort  to  demand  its  sur- 


94 

render  in  the  name  of  the  king.  But  Leisler  would  not 
comply  until  he  had  sent  Sergeant  Stoll,  who  had  met 
the  governor  in  England,  to  identify  him  as  the  real 
Sloughter.  Stoll  gravely  told  the  governor  that  he  was 
glad  'to  find  in  him  the  same  man  he  had  known  at 
home. 

"Yes,"  said  the  governor,  "I  have  been  seen  in 
England,  and  now  intend  to  be  seen  in  New  York." 

He  refused  to  treat  with  Stoll,  however,  and  again 
sent  Ingoldsby  to  the  fort  to  demand  its  surrender  and 
to  order  Leisler  and  his  council  to  report  forthwith  to 
the  governor,  and  to  bring  I3ayard  and  Nicolls  with  them. 
But  Leisler  refused,  declaring  it  would  be  against  all 
military  precedent  to  deliver  up  a  fort  at  midnight.  A 
third  time  the  messenger  was  sent,  and  a  third  time  he 
was  **  contemptuously  refused."  Then  governor  and 
councilors  retired  with  an  agreement  to  meet  at  an 
early   hour  next   morning. 

They  were  very  early  at  the  City  Hall.  During  the 
night  the  governor  had  matured  his  plans.  Ignoring  a 
humble  letter  from  Leisler  in  which  the  latter  asserted 
his  loyalty  and  offered  to  *'  give  an  exact  account  of 
all  his  acts,"  he  ordered  Ingoldsby  to  go  to  the  fort  and 
command  the  men  at  arms  to  submit,  promising  pardon 
to  all  but  Leisler  and  his  council.  When  this  was  done 
the  men  laid  down  their  arms  and  gave  up  Leisler  and 
his  councilors,  who  were  led  prisoners  to  the  City  Hall. 
Then  the  heavy  doors  of  the  cells  in  the  fort  were 
thrown  back,  and  Bayard  and  Nicolls  brought  forth,  aged 
and  worn  to  skeletons  almost  by  their  thirteen  months 
of  captivity.      They  were  met  with  good  wishes,  min- 


95 

gled  with  expressions  ot  pity,  and  conducted  to  the  City 
Hall,  where  they  took  the  oath  of  office  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  people.  But  Leisler  and  his  councilors  were 
thrust  into  the  cells  that  had  just  been  vacated  by  their 
victims  ;  the  chain  that  Bayard  had  worn  was  put  on  the 
leg  of  Leisler. 

Soon  the  people  began  to  clamor  for  the  punishment 
of  Leisler  and  his  friends.  A  speedy  trial  was  demanded 
by  the  accused  and  granted  by  Sloughter.  On  March 
23,  three  days  after  the  surrender,  the  prisoners  were 
examined  and  bound  over  for  trial.  The  case  was  at 
once  given  to  the  grand  jury,  which  found  a  true  bill 
against  Leisler,  Millborne,  and  eight  others,  charging 
them  with  "  holding  by  force  the  king's  fort  against  the 
king's  governor,  after  publication  of  his  commission,  and 
after  demand  had  been  made  in  the  king's  name,  and  in 
the  reducing  of  which  lives  had  been  lost." 

The  court  sat  March  30,  and  the  trial  proceeded  for 
eight  days  with  all  the  solemnity  and  stately  ceremonial 
common  in  those  days.  A  very  august  tribunal  it  was, 
too,  of  ten  stern  judges  in  flowing  black  robes  and  pow- 
dered, full-bottomed  wigs — Dudley,  the  chief  justice  of 
the  province,  Thomas  Johnson,  Sir  Robert  Robinson, 
former  governor  of  Bermuda,  Jasper  Hicks,  captain  of 
\\\e:  Archangel,  Lieutenant  Governor  Ingoldsby,  Colonel 
William  Smith,  Major  John  Lawrence,  Recorder  Pin- 
horn,  John  Young,  and  Isaac  Arnold — men  chosen  be- 
cause they  had  suffered  little  or  nothing  from  the 
prisoners,  and  who  would  be  more  likely,  therefore,  to 
judge  them  fairly. 

When  brought  before   them   Leisler  and   Millborne 


96 

declined  to  plead  at  all  until  the  court  should  decide 
whether  the  king's  letter  to  Nicholson  conferred  the 
government  upon  Leisler.  The  court  referred  the  ques- 
tion to  Governor  Sloughter  and  his  council,  and  they 
declared  in  writing  that  neither  in  the  king's  letter  nor 
in  the  papers  of  the  privy  council  was  there  the  slightest 
authority  for  the  prisoner  to  seize  upon  the  government. 
This  swept  away  any  defense  the  prisoners  may  have 
hoped  to  make ;  for  unless  they  could  prove  authority 
they  stood  convicted  of  treason  and  murder,  the  penalty 
of  which  was  death. 

They  did  the  very  best  thing  possible  under  the  cir- 
cumstances— they  refused  to  plead  and  appealed  to  the 
king.  The  eight  other  prisoners  pleaded  not  guilty. 
Notwithstanding,  the  trial  proceeded.  Leisler,  Millborne, 
and  six  of  the  other  prisoners  were  found  guilty;  two 
were  acquitted  ;  and  Chief  Justice  Dudley,  assuming  the 
black  cap,  passed  sentence  of  death  upon  the  eight. 

But  Sloughter  hesitated  to  order  their  execution ;  he 
had  grave  doubts  as  to  his  authority  to  sign  a  death 
warrant  in  the  case  of  an  appeal  to  the  king.  '*  Never 
greater  villains  lived,"  he  wrote  King  William,  "  but  I 
am  resolved  to  wait  your  pleasure,  if  by  any  other 
means  than  hanging  I  can  keep  the  people  quiet." 

But  he  soon  found  that  there  was  no  other  way. 
Scores  of  petitions  and  remonstrances  from  Dutch  and 
English,  and  even  from  the  Indians,  against  clemency 
were  thrust  upon  him.  So  many  had  suffered  griev- 
ous wrongs,  either  in  person  or  property,  from  the 
usurper  that  the  demand  for  his  execution  was  general. 
The  two  Dutch  clergymen  are  said  to  have  openly  ad- 


97 

vocated  his  death  from  the  pulpit.  Ladies  of  high  sta- 
tion, sufferers  from  Leisler's  tyranny,  pleaded  with  the 
governor  to  sign  the  death  warrant ;  the  most  eminent 
and  loyal  men  of  the  province  said  to  him  that  there 
could  be  no  peace  nor  quietness  while  the  leaders  lived, 
and  threatened  to  remove  from  the  country  unless  the 
sentence  was  carried  out.  On  the  other  hand,  there  came 
many  petitions  from  the  friends  and  families  of  the  con- 
demned, praying  for  clemency,  so  that  between  them 
the  poor  governor  was  nearly  at  his  wit's  end.  But  one 
day  there  came  news  from  Albany  that  the  Mohawk 
Indians,  whom  Leisler  had  greatly  angered  by  his  acts, 
had  threatened  to  join  the  French  as  allies  unless  their 
enemy  was  executed. 

On  receipt  of  this  news  the  governor  and  council  met, 
and  resolved  that  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Indians  and 
to  quiet  the  province  it  was  necessary  that  the  sentence 
against  the  principal  offenders  **  be  forthwith  executed." 
This  was  laid  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  which 
the  governor  had  convened,  and  that  body  indorsed  the 
action  of  the  governor  and  council.  Sloughter  there- 
fore signed  the  death  warrant,  and  Leisler  and  Millborne 
were  executed. 

The  former  met  his  fate  with  firmness  and  dignity. 
In  his  speech  upon  the  gallows  he  begged  that  all  dis- 
cord and  dissension  about  him  might  be  buried  with  his 
ashes,  and  declared  that  in  all  he  had  done  his  sole  aim 
had  been  to  advance  "  the  interests  of  William  and 
Mary,  and  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  churches  of  these 
parts." 

Perhaps  the  fairest  judgment  that  could  be  passed 

TODD,  N.  Y.  — 7 


98 

upon  this  puzzling  character  is  that  he  was  of  unbal- 
anced mind,  half  crazed  by  fear  of  aristocratic  and 
popish  plots  and  by  the  possession  of  unlimited  power. 
Regarded  from  any  standpoint,  it  was  a  most  unfortu- 
nate affair,  and  retarded  the  growth  of  the  colony  not  a 
little.  For,  despite  Leisler's  prayer,  the  spirit  of  faction 
survived  his  death,  and  for  half  a  century  the  "  Leisler- 
ites,"  as  they  were  called,  continued  to  exercise  a  dis- 
turbing influence  on  the  politics  of  the  city. 

When  the  matter  came  before  King  William  on  Leis- 
ler's appeal  he  decided  that  the  sentence  was  a  righteous 
one  and  sustained  the  judges.  On  the  ground  of 
former  loyal  services  rendered  by  Leisler,  however,  he 
restored  to  the  latter's  heirs  his  estates,  which  had  been 
confiscated  for  treason,  and  four  years  later  Parliament, 
on  the  petition  of  the  friends  of  Leisler,  '*  to  promote 
peace  and  heal  the  scars  of  the  civil  war,"  reversed  the 
decree  of  attainder  which  had  been  pronounced  against 
Leisler,  thus  removing  the  attaint  from  his  family. 


IX.    THE    APPROACH    OF   THE 
REVOLUTION. 

FROM  1 69 1  to  1764  the  history  of  New  York  pre- 
sents no  events  of  great  importance.  During  this 
period  she  grew  in  wealth,  population,  and  commerce 
but  slowly,  the  acts  of  the  British  government  greatly 
restricting  her  foreign  trade,  and  the  many  wars  with 
the  French  and  Indians  on  the  north  retarding  her 
growth  in  numbers.  Politically  this  period  was  marked 
by  the  almost  constant  struggle  of  her  people  for  more 
liberty — liberty  of  trade,  liberty  to  govern  themselves, 
liberty  of  speech,  and"  a  free  press.  Some  striking  in- 
cidents and  romantic  phases  of  the  period  may  be 
touched  upon  briefly. 

Governor  Sloughter  died  suddenly  about  two  months 
after  the  execution  of  Leisler, — some  said  from  poison, — 
and  in  1692  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher.  This  gentleman  was  a  brave  soldier  who  had 
seen  service  in  the  Low  Countries;  he  was  a  courtier 
too,  shrewd,  pliant,  persuasive,  politic,  not  to  be  praised 
for  all  that  he  did,  but  perhaps  the  best  man  for  the 
place  that  could  have  been  found.  He  allayed  in  a 
measure  the  angry  passions  that  had  been  aroused  in 
Leisler's  time ;  he  soothed  and  pacified  the  Indians,  and 
he  practically  founded  the  Trinity  Church  of  to-day,  by 

99 


lOO 


giving  it  the  revenues  of  the  King's  Farm,  which  be- 
longed to  him  as  governor ;  indeed,  the  inscription  on  the 
first  Trinity  Church  built  inNewYork,  completed  in  1696, 
stated  that  it  was  chiefly  "enriched  and  promoted  by  the 
bounty  of  his  Excellency  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher." 

During  Governor  Fletcher's  reign  the  privateers 
brought  a  great  deal  of  booty  to  New  York.  **  King 
William's  War,"  between  France  and  England,  which 
broke  out  in  1 688-1 689,  put  many  of  this  class  upon 
the  seas.  A  privateer  was  a  private  vessel  commis- 
sioned by  its  government  to  go  out  and  capture  on  the 
high  seas  an  enemy's  vessel  wherever  it  might  be  found. 
But  many  of  them  when  once  at  sea  captured  all  vessels, 
whether  friend  or  foe,  and  thus  became 
pirates,  and  the  common  enemies  of 
mankind.  It  was  the  scandal  of 
Governor  Fletcher's  reign  that 
these  pirates  were  per- 
mitted to  harbor  in  the 
city  equally  with  the  pri- 
vateers, and  often  in  the 
guise  of  their  more  honest 
brethren.  Both  classes 
brought  great  store  of 
wealth  to  the  city — East  India 
goods,  rare  fabrics  of  Teheran 
and  Samarkand,  Arabian  gold, 
ivory,  and  slaves  from  the  African  coast.  The  pirate 
captains  were  marked  figures  on  the  streets.  One  of 
them  is  described  as  having  been  a  slight,  dark  man 
of  about  forty,  who  scattered  gold  with  prodigality. 


!ol 

Me  wore  a  uniform  "  rich  and  elegant,  a  blue  cap 
with  a  band  of  cloth  of  silver,  a  blue  jacket  bordered 
with  gold  braid  and  garnished  with  large  buttons 
of  mother-of-pearl."  He  wore  loose  trousers  of  white 
linen,  gathered  at  the  knee  into  curiously  clocked  stock- 
ings. A  long  chain  of  Arabian  gold  was  thrown  about 
his  neck,  and  in  his  knitted  waistbelt  gleamed  a  dagger, 
its  hilt  set  with  sparkling  diamonds.  Men  accoutered 
like  this,  treating  everybody  who  would  drink  to  huge 
draughts  of  Sopus  ale,  and  throwing  golden  louis  d'ors 
about  as  carelessly  as  stivers,  were  familiar  objects  in 
New  York  at  that  time. 

But  the  East  India  Company,  which  owned  many  of 
the  vessels  captured  by  them,  soon  made  bitter  com- 
plaint to  the  home  government,  alleging  that  the  pirates 
were  harbored  in  New  York,  and  their  ill-gotten  booty 
purchased  by  her  merchants ;  and  as  Colonel  Fletcher 
was  not  very  successful  in  catching  them,  he  was  recalled, 
and  Richard,  Earl  of  Bellomont,  an  Irish  nobleman  of 
the  highest  character,  who  had  been  very  active  against 
the  freebooters,  was  appointed  captain  general  of  New 
York  and  New  England,  with  special  orders  to  stamp 
out  piracy. 

But  Bellomont  did  not  make  a  very  successful  gov- 
ernor. He  was  too  austere,  cold,  bigoted,  prejudiced ; 
he  arrived  with  the  fixed  idea  that  the  chief  men  of  the 
colony,  including  Fletcher,  were  imbued  with  piracy, 
and  had  no  hesitation  in  so  stating  publicly.  Almost 
his  first  official  act  was  a  very  unwise  one :  he  restored 
to  the  families  of  Leisler  and  Millborne  their  estates 
that  had  been  forfeited,  and  as  these  had  by  this  time 


102 

passed  into  the  hands  of  third  parties,  who  had  bought 
legally,  the  attempt  to  evict  them  nearly  caused  a  riot, 
and  at  once  excited  factional  feelings  that  had  nearly 
died  out.  He  did  not  show  any  greater  tact  in  his 
attempts  to  suppress  piracy  and  smuggling,  and  to  re- 
cover from  the  great  landed  proprietors  and  the  churches 
the  large  grants  of  land  which  Fletcher  had  given 
them.  To  stamp  out  the  former  he  seized  goods  and 
arrested  persons  simply  on  suspicion,  dismissed  the 
highest  officials  without  a  hearing,  and  removed  mem- 
bers of  the  council  to  fill  their  places  with  men  of  his 
own  party.  To  remedy  the  latter  evil  he  prepared  a 
bill  vacating  all  land  grants  made  by  former  governors, 
and  prohibiting  any  one  person  from  holding  over  one 
thousand  acres  of  land.  One  of  the  grants  aimed  at  by 
this  law  was  that  of  Domine  Dellius,  a  Dutch  Reformed 
clergyman  of  Albany,  who  had  first  secured  it  from  the 
Indians,  and  later  had  had  it  confirmed  by  Fletcher; 
another  was  the  grant  to  Trinity  Church.  Because  of 
this  zeal  without  knowledge  the  governor  very  soon  had 
arrayed  against  him  the  clergy,  the  principal  men  of  the 
colony,  the  merchants,  and  the  king's  officers.  His  only 
friends  were  the  Leislerites,  and  soon  the  province  was 
torn  with  the  quarrels  of  the  factions.  Colonel  Fletcher 
meantime  was  clamoring  to  have  his  accounts  with  the 
colony  settled,  that  he  might  go  to  England  with  his 
vouchers  and  have  his  conduct  as  governor  investigated 
by  the  Lords  of  Trade.  Having  served  under  the 
crown  for  thirty-five  years  without  reproach,  he  said, 
he  did  not  think  he  should  become  a  castaway  in  the 
rear  of  his  days. 


103 


Governor  Bellomont  died  suddenly  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1 701,  and  was  buried  under  the  chapel  of  the 
fort.  What  would  have  been  the  outcome  of  his  gov- 
ernment had  he  lived  it  is  impossible  to  say ;  as  it  was, 
he  left  the  colony  in  much  worse  condition  than  he 
found  it. 

King  William  died  on  March  8,  1702,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Queen  Anne  of  the  Stuart  line,  who  proved 
so  excellent  a  ruler  that  her  subjects  called  her  "  good 
Queen  Anne."  She  was  very  charitable,  especially  to 
the  struggling  colonial  churches.  Among  other  gifts 
she  bestowed  on  Trinity  Church,  in  1705,  the  Annetje 
Jans  estate,  a  tract  of  some  sixty  acres  lying  above 
Chambers  Street,  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  which 
now,  with  the  King's  Farm  before  mentioned,  yields 
princely  revenues. 

In  1 725  quite  an  event  occurred  in  the  birth  of  the  first 
newspaper  New  York  had  ever  seen — the  "  Gazette." 


^^S^tr^ 


New  York  in  1720. 


It  was  but  a  mite  when  compared  with  our  present 
mammoth  editions,  being  printed  on  a  half  sheet  of 
foolscap  paper.  It  contained  almost  no  local  news,  for- 
eign letters  and  customhouse  entries  taking  up  most  of 


I04 

the  space.     William  Bradford,  printer  to   the  govern- 
ment, was  editor  and  proprietor. 

After  nine  years  the  **  Gazette  "  found  a  rival  in  a 
new  paper  called  the  '*  Weekly  Journal,"  and  edited  by 
John  Peter  Zenger.  Zenger  was  a  German  Protestant 
who  had  been  forced  from  his  home  on  the  Rhine  by 
the  armies  of  France,  and  coming  to  this  country  with 
Governor  Hunter  in  1710,  a  mere  lad,  had  been  appren- 
ticed to  William  Bradford.  Now  grown  to  manhood, 
he  turned  his  guns  on  his  former  teacher ;  for  the  "  Jour- 
nal," being  the  organ  of  the  Whig  or  people's  party, 
was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  **  Gazette,"  which  was  the 
organ  of  the  governor  and  council,  the  conservatives,  the 
vested  interests.  Whatever  the  '*  Journal  "  could  do  to 
bring  into  contempt  the  '*  aristocrats,"  as  it  called  the 
governor  and  his  party,  it  did.  It  attacked  the  governor, 
the  council,  the  assemblymen — everybody  and  every- 
thing connected  with  the  ruling  class.  Squibs,  lampoons, 
ballads,  witticism,  satire,  whatever  would  serve  its  pur- 
pose, all  were  made  use  of  without  stint.  At  last  the 
people  had  an  organ  in  which  to  make  their  wants  and 
grievances  known,  and  they  appreciated  it ;  it  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  '*  Heralds,"  "Tribunes,"  *' Suns," 
"  Worlds,"  and  "  Journals  "  of  a  later  period. 

Bradford  replied,  defending  the  governor  and  his 
party ;  but  his  editorials  lacked  the  pith  and  vigor  of 
Zenger's,  as  you  will  see  if  you  go  to  the  public  library 
and  ask  to  see  the  journals  in  question.  At  length  the 
government  did  what  was  best  calculated  to  heighten 
the  people's  respect  for  their  editor  and  increase  his  in- 
fluence ;   it  declared  four  igsu^s  of  the  "  Weekly  Jour- 


I05 

nal  "  "  libelous,"  and  ordered  them  burned  by  the  public 
hangman,  at  the  same  time  directing  the  mayor  and 
aldermen,  who  were  of  the  popular  party,  to  attend  and 
witness  the  ceremony.  But  the  spirit  of  resistance  was 
abroad,  and  the  mayor  and  magistrates  refused  to  obey 
the  order ;  they  said  it  was  arbitrary  and  without  war- 
rant of  law.  Then  Governor  Cosby,  a  weak  man,  and 
his  advisers  went  still  further:  they  seized  Zenger  and 
threw  him  into  prison  on  a  charge  of  criminal  libel. 
Where  he  had  had  one  friend  before  he  now  had  ten. 
Men  rallied  not  so  much  to  his  aid  as  to  the  defense  of 
a  free  press,  and  to  the  right  of  the  people  to  criticise 
their  officials.  The  excitement  spread  to  the  neighbor- 
ing colonies,  where  the  issue  of  the  trial  was  awaited 
with  the  greatest  interest.  The  leaders  of  the  popular 
party  in  New  York  at  this  time  were  two  lawyers  named 
James  Alexander  and  William  Smith  ;  both  at  once  vol- 
unteered to  defend  Zenger.  Smith  had  been  recorder 
of  the  city,  and  was  noted  for  his  captivating  eloquence  ; 
Alexander  had  been  surveyor  general,  and  was  also 
noted  for  legal  ability  as  well  as  for  his  silver  tongue. 
Unfortunately,  their  zeal  led  them  to  make  a  grave  mis- 
take at  the  outset :  they  boldly  challenged  the  legality 
of  the  commissions  of  Chief  Justice  de  Lancey  and  of 
Justice  Phillipse,  the  two  judges  who  composed  the 
court  that  was  to  try  Zenger,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  worded  in  the  usual  form,  and  had  been  issued 
by  Governor  Cosby  without  consent  of  the  council. 

Judge  de  Lancey  was  of  Huguenot  ancestry,  of  the 
aristocratic  party,  stout,  florid,  pompous  in  manner,  a 
great  stickler  for  the  dignity  and  prerogatives  of  his 


io6 

office,  and  held  this  plea  of  the  attorneys  to  be  a  gross 
contempt  of  court.  As  soon  as  he  could  command  his 
voice,  he  said:  "  You  have  brought  it  to  that  pass,  sirs, 
that  either  we  must  go  from  the  bench  or  you  from  the 
bar,"  and  he  excluded  them  from  further  practice, 
assigning  John  Chambers  to  defend  Zenger.  There 
was  no  appeal  for  the  disbarred  attorneys  in  that  day ; 
but  they  were  men  of  resources,  and  they  hastened  to 
Philadelphia,  and  secured,  to  assist  Chambers,  Andrew 
Hamilton,  reputed  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  advo- 
cate then  in  the  colonies.  At  the  same  time,  through 
the  press  and  by  private  conversation  in  the  clubs  and 
coffeehouses,  they  made  public  the  story  of  their  own 
wrongs  and  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  case. 

When  the  trial  was  called,  in  July,  1735,  Hamilton 
appeared  eager  for  the  fray,  and  was  greeted  with  shouts 
of  approval  by  the  people,  who  saw  in  him  the  cham- 
pion of  popular  rights.  His  first  reply  to  the  indictment 
was  that  the  articles  in  the  ''Journal"  could  not  be 
libelous,  because  they  were  true.  Bradley,  the  king's 
attorney  general,  took  exception  to  this  plea,  and  quoted 
the  old  English  law  that  even  the  truth  if  repeated  with 
intent  to  injure  another  was  libelous,  and  punishable  as 
such. 

So  all  summer  the  legal  battle  raged  with  varying 
fortunes  to  the  combatants,  and  all  summer  the  entire 
body  of  the  colonies  watched  and  waited  to  see  if  the 
press  was  to  be  muzzled,  or  left  to  be  the  Argus-eyed 
exposer  of  official  corruption,  and  the  defender  of  the 
people's  rights.  At  length,  after  a  charge  by  the  judge 
unfavorable  to  the  prisoner,  the  case  was  given  to  the 


107 

jury,  who,  after  being  out  but  a  few  moments,  returned 
with  a  verdict  of  "  Not  guilty." 

The  people  received  it  with  shouts  of  approval,  and 
were  so  delighted  that  they  would  have  borne  Hamil- 
ton to  his  hotel  on  their  shoulders,  but  he  would  not 
permit  it.  The  corporation,  however,  tendered  him  a 
banquet,  at  which  he  was  presented  by  the  mayor  with 
the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  box ;  and  the  same 
evening  a  grand  ball  was  given  in  his  honor.  In  this 
first  openly  avowed  and  distinct  contest  for  their  rights, 
the  people  won  a  great  victory. 

The  closing  days  of  British  rule  in  New  York  were 
marked  by  the  founding  of  one  of  the  city's  noblest  in- 
stitutions, Columbia  College.  By  1751,  after  many 
years  of  effort,  the 
sum  of  ;^3, 443  had 
been  raised  by  lot- 
tery and  public 
subscription  to 
found  a  college  in 

New  York,  and  a 

,  .,,  ,  ,  King's  College  in  1758. 

bill  was  passed  by 

the  legislature  naming  ten  trustees  to  take  charge  of  it. 

In  1752  the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church  offered  to  give  a  site 

and  the  necessary  grounds  for  a  campus.     This  offer  was 

accepted,  and  in  1753  the  trustees  invited  the  Rev.  Dr. 

Samuel  Johnson,  an  eminent  clergyman  of  that  day,  to 

be   the  first  president.      His  salary  was  ;^2  50  a  year. 

The  college  was  first  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1753,  in 

the  vestry  room   of  Trinity  Church,  with  an  entering 

class  of  ten.      On  August  23,  1756,  the  corner  stone  of 


io8 

a  new  building  was  laid  by  Governor  Charles  Hardy 
with  appropriate  ceremonies.  Its  site  and  grounds 
covered  the  whole  block  now  bounded  by  College  Place, 
Barclay,  Church,  and  Murray  streets,  and  the  new 
building  was  first  opened  to  students  in  May,  1 760. 
During  the  Revolution  no  sessions  were  held,  the 
building  being  used  by  the  British  as  a  hospital.  On 
the  return  of  peace  the  college  was  reorganized  and  its 
name  changed  from  King's  to  Columbia. 


X.    THE    PEOPLE    UNDER    BRITISH    RULE. 

VERY  soon  after  the  British  came  the  tone  of  soci- 
ety in  New  York  was  ahnost  wholly  changed,  the 
English  language,  customs,  and  manners  largely  sup- 
planting the  Dutch.  New  York,  with  the  large  influx 
of  immigrants  from  England  and  the  New  England 
States,  became  a  miniature  London,  English  to  the  core. 
She  celebrated  with  fete  and  procession  the  birthdays 
of  the  king,  queen,  and  members  of  the  royal  family. 
She  donned  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  mourning 
at  their  decease.  The  governor  and  his  official  family, 
the  officers  of  the  garrison,  the  patroons,  professional 
men,  and  retired  merchants  formed  an  upper  or  court 
circle  and  gave  tone  to  society.  In  place  of  the  simple, 
domestic,  democratic  social  system  of  the  Dutch  came 
in  the  English  one  of  classes.  London  fashions  soon 
became  popular,  although,  as  William  Smith,  a  local  his- 
torian, observed,  "  by  the  time  we  adopt  them  they  be- 
come disused  in  England."  London  tradesmen,  tailors, 
peruke  makers,  and  teachers  came  with  them,  and  greater 
elegance  in  dress,  equipage,  houses,  and  furniture  was 
the  result. 

Among  the  distinguished  company  that  accompa- 
nied Governor  Andros  in  1678  was  the  Rev.  James 
Wooley,  who  had  recently  taken  holy  orders,  and  who 

109 


no 

had  been  commissioned  chaplain  to  the  king's  army  in 
New  York.  This  gentleman  used  his  eyes  and  ears  to 
good  purpose,  and  on  his  return  to  London  wrote  a  little 
book  called  '*  A  Two  Years'  Journal  in  New  York," 
which  gives  some  pleasant  glimpses  of  the  social  life  of 
our  city  at  that  time  (1678- 1680).  "  The  country,"  he 
wrote,  **  is  of  a  sweet  and  wholesome  breath,  free  from 
those  annoyances  which  are  commonly  ascribed  by 
naturalists  to  the  insalubrity  of  any  country,  viz.,  south 
or  southeast  winds,  stagnant  waters,  lowness  of  shoals, 
inconstancy  of  weather,  and  the  excessive  heat  of  the 
summer;  it  is  gently  refreshed,  fanned,  and  allayed  by 
constant  breezes  from  the  sea." 

The  people  he  found  very  friendly  and  hospitable, 
though  '*  a  clan  of  high-flown  religionists."  The  two 
domines,  the  Lutheran  and  Dutch  Reformed,  he  found 
it  necessary  to  rebuke  for  their  unfriendly  and  unchris- 
tian attitude  toward  each  other.  He  passes  to  this 
description  of  what  was  then  a  favorite  recreation: 

**  We  had  a  very  good  diversion  in  an  orchard  of  Mr. 
John  Robinson  of  New  York,  where  ^^  followed  a  bear 
from  tree  to  tree,  upon  which  he  could  swarm  like  a  cat ; 
and  when  he  was  got  to  his  resting  place,  perched  upon 
a  high  branch,  we  dispatched  a  youth  after  him  with  a 
club  to  an  opposite  bough,  who  knocking  his  paws,  he 
comes  grumbling  down  backward  with  a  thump,  so  we 
after  him  again." 

Every  New  Year's  day,  Mr.  Wooley  tells  us,  the 
English  observed  **  a  neighborly  commerce  of  presents." 
One  sent  him  a  sugar  loaf,  another  a  pair  of  gloves,  a 
third  a  bottle  or  two  of  wine. 


Ill 

One  day  he  saw  **  two  Dutch  boors  "  grappling  under 
his  window.  **  I  called  up  an  acquaintance  and  asked 
him  to  fetch  a  kit  full  of  water  and  discharge  it  at 
them,  which  immersion  cooled  their  courage  and  loosed 
their  grip.  So  we  used  to  part  our  mastiffs  in 
England." 

The  city  of  New  York  he  described  as  being  "  as  large 
as  some  market  towns  with  us,  and  all  built  the  London 
way."  "The  diversion,  especially  in  the  winter  season 
and  by  the  Dutch,  is  aurigation,  i.e.,  riding  about  in 
wagons  [probably  straw  rides]  ;  .  .  .  and  upon  the  ice 
it  is  admirable  to  see  men  and  women  as  it  were  fly- 
ing upon  their  skates  from  place  to  place  with  markets 
[baskets]  upon  their  heads  and  backs." 

When  our  author  returned  he  took  with  him  as  sou- 
venirs **  a  gray  squirrel,  a  parrot,  and  a.  raccoon." 

While  Mr.  Wooley  was  preaching  to  the  garrison  in 
the  fort  there  arrived  in  New  York  two  young  men  in 
queer  scallop  hats  and  long  coats,  who  had  been  sent 
from  Germany  by  a  sternly  religious  Protestant  order 
there — the  Labadists — to  find  a  location  in  this  country 
for  one  of  their  communities.  These  men  were  clever, 
with  a  great  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  went  prying  all 
over  the  country,  letting  nothing  escape  their  eyes  and 
pens  and  pencils. 

In  New  York  they  were  "  regaled  on  milk  and 
peaches,  fish  and  fruit."  The  most  interesting  part  of 
their  book  to  us  describes  a  tour  they  made  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  present  borough  of  Brooklyn 
in  October,  1679.  Crossing  the  ferry  on  September 
29,  they  climbed   a   hill,  and   then    rode   "  along  open 


112 

roads  and  woody  places,  and  through  a  village  called 
Breuckelen,  which  has  a  small  ugly  church  standing  in 
the  middle  of  the  road." 

That  night  they  spent  in  the  farmhouse  of  one  Simon 
de  Hart,  and  had  for  supper  a  roasted  haunch  of  veni- 
son, a  goose,  a  wild  turkey,  and  oysters  both  raw  and 
roasted,  and  they  sat  up  with  their  host  late  into  the  night 
before  a  great  hickory  fire  that  roared  hospitably  up 
the  chimney.  From  his  house  they  visited  New  Utrecht, 
and  were  received  by  Jacques  Cortelyou,  who  lived  in  a 
stone  house,  one  of  several  in  the  village,  and  united  the 
callings  of  land  surveyor,  mathematician,  and  doctor  of 
medicine.  Because  of  illness  in  their  host's  family  they 
were  obliged  to  sleep  in  the  barn,  which  they  did  on 
straw  spread  with  sheepskins,  "  amid  the  continual  grunt- 
ing of  hogs,  squealing  of  pigs,  bleating  and  coughing  of 
sheep,  barking  of  dogs,  crowing  of  cocks,  and  cackling 
of  hens."  After  several  days  they  leisurely  retraced 
their  steps  to  New  York,  noting  on  the  way  the  Indian 
villages,  the  wild  grapes,  peach  orchards,  and  fields  of 
watermelons.  This  Cortelyou  house  will  again  appear 
in  our  story. 

The  era  of  the  privateers  and  **  Red  Sea  men,"  who 
flooded  the  city  with  East  India  goods  and  Arabian 
gold  ( I  700-1 705),  was  marked  by  the  most  lavish  dis- 
play and  extravagance.  Broadway  of  a  Sunday  morn- 
ing must  then  have  presented  a  brilliant  and  animated 
spectacle  as  the  throng  of  fair  w^omen  and  courtly  men 
moved  along  it  on  the  way  to  service.  Trinity,  or  ''  the 
English  church,"  first  opened  in  1696,  and  the  new 
Dutch  church  on  Garden  Street,  built  in  1693,  were  then 


113 

the  fashionable  places  of  worship,  though  Trinity,  as  the 
church  of  the  court  circle,  took  precedence. 

Among  the  distinguished  company  are  Governor  Lord 
Bellomont,  tall  and  stern,  James  de  I.ancey,  the  law- 
yer, who  will  be  later  chief  justice  and  lieutenant  gov- 


"  Broadway  of  a  Sunday  morning. 


ernor,  Isaac  de  Riemer,  the  Huguenot  and  mayor  of 
the  city,  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard  and  Mrs.  Bayard, 
Dr.  Samuel  Staats  and  his  wife,  a  beautiful  East  Indian 
princess,  Frederick  Phillipse,  Gabriel  MinvieHe,  Thomas 
Willett,  Richard  Townley,  and  John  Lawrence,  of  the 
king's  council,  James  Graham  and  James  Emott,  the 
distinguished  lawyers,   Abraham  Gouverneur,   George 

TODD,    N.  Y.— 8 


114 

Heathcote,  Johannes  and  Abraham  de  Peyster,  and 
other  able  men  of  that  day. 

And  how  were  they  dressed?  Certain  old  family 
inventories  enable  us  to  describe  their  costumes  with  as 
much  detail  as  though  we  were  a  society  reporter  of 
1705  sent  out  for  the  purpose.  Colonel  Bayard,  for 
instance,  wears  a  long-skirted,  cinnamon-colored  cloth 
coat,  embroidered  four  or  five  inches  deep  with  silver 
lace,  and  lined  with  sky-blue  silk ;  his  waistcoat  is  of  red 
satin  inwoven  with  gold ;  his  breeches  are  of  the  same 
color  and  material  as  his  coat,  and  are  trimmed  with 
silver  braid  at  the  pockets  and  knees.  His  lower  limbs 
and  feet  are  covered  with  dove-colored  stockings  of  silk 
and  low  shoes  set  off  with  bright  silver  buckles.  His 
broad-brimmed  black  hat  of  felt  is  adorned  with  a  band 
of  gold  lace.  His  full-bottomed  wig  is  sprinkled  with 
starch  finely  ground  and  sifted,  to  which  burnt  alabaster 
or  whiting  has  been  added  to  give  it  body,  and  is 
scented  with  ambergris.  The  ends  of  his  *'  steenkirk," 
or  neckcloth  of  fine  muslin,  are  laced  and  tucked  into  his 
expansive  shirt  bosom ;  the  latter  being  of  fine  holland 
adorned  with  colbertine  ruffles,  to  display  which  the 
waistcoat  is  left  open.  His  snuff  is  daintily  scented,  and 
contained  in  an  elegant  ivory  box  with  an  invisible 
hinge  and  a  looking-glass  in  the  lid. 

When  he  has  occasion  to  use  his  handkerchief  we  see 
that  it  is  of  the  finest  silk  and  ornamented  with  the 
British  arms,  while  on  its  folds  are  printed  or  painted  the 
ensigns  and  standards  captured  from  the  French,  per- 
haps in  some  action  at  which  the  colonel  was  present. 
And  when  he  draws  forth   his  watch  to  note  the  hour 


115 

we  notice  the  beautiful  shagreen  case  studded  with  gold 
which  protects  it,  and  which  has  his  seal  and  watch  key 
attached  by  a  wide  silk  ribbon.  He  flourishes  a  cane 
with  an  elegant  gold  head  engraved  with  crown  and 
cipher;  but  his  diamond-hilted  sword  with  its  gay  sword 
knot,  which  every  gentleman  wears  when  fully  dressed, 
has  been  left  behind  because  of  the  sacred  character  of 
the  day. 

The  other  gentlemen  are  dressed  in  the  same  style, 
although  there  is  a  pleasing  variety  in  color  and  material. 

If  the  gentlemen  are  thus  brilliant,  the  ladies  appear 
brilliant  as  emperor  moths.  Mrs.  Bayard,  for  instance, 
wears  in  place  of  a  bonnet  a  "  frontage,"  a  kind  of  head- 
dress made  of  rows  of  plaited  muslin  reenforced  with  wire, 
one  rising  above  the  other,  and  growing  smaller  as  they 
rise.  She  also  wears  the  steenkirk.  The  bodice  of  her 
purple-and-gold  atlas  gown  is  laced  over  very  tight 
stays,  and  the  gown  itself  is  cut  away  in  front  to  display 
the  black  velvet  petticoat,  edged  with  two  silver  orrices, 
and  high  enough  to  show  the  green  silk  stockings  and 
richly  embroidered  shoes  of  fine  morocco  with  red 
clocks.  Her  hair  is  also  powdered,  and  she  is  per- 
fumed with  rose  water  and  eaii  de  Came,  Some  of  the 
younger  ladies  are  even  more  richly  dressed.  Dr. 
Staats's  stately  East  Indian  princess  appears  in  purple 
and  gold ;  a  pretty  little  lady  behind  her  wears  a  satin 
gown  over  an  Alijah  petticoat  striped  with  green,  gold, 
and  white ;  another  gown  is  flowered  with  green  and 
gold,  over  a  scarlet-and-gold  atlas  petticoat  edged  with 
silver. 

As  the  last  tones  of  the  bell  cease  the  brilliant  com- 


ii6 

pany  is  lost  in  the  churches,  and  the  street  is  left  to 
Indians  and  negro  slaves. 

The  latter  were  an  important  element  of  the  popula- 
tion all  through  colony  days  and  for  some  years  after  the 
Revolution.  We  meet  them  everywhere — in  the  fields, 
on  the  streets,  bringing  water,  marketing,  serving,  herd- 
ing, doing  most  of  the  menial  work  of  the  town.  There 
were  three  classes  of  slaves — negroes,  Indians,  and  white 
immigrants,  or  redemptioners.  The  negroes  were  mostly 
native  Africans  imported  direct  from  Angola  or  Mada- 
gascar, or  indirectly  from  the  West  Indies  in  the  colony 
vessels.  They  still  preserved  their  native  savagery,  and 
were  an  element  of  fear  to  the  more  timorous.  Twice 
there  was  an  uprising  among  them,  in  1 7 1 2  and  1 74 1 ,  and 
a  plot,  as  was  charged,  to  murder  all  the  males  and  cap- 
ture the  town ;  but  both  were  easily  put  down.  The 
Indian  slaves  were  probably  captives  taken  in  war  or 
condemned  to  servitude  for  petty  crimes.  The  Euro- 
peans were  those  who  agreed  with  the  captains  who 
gave  them  a  passage  over  to  serve  a  certain  time  after 
landing  until  the  passage  money  should  be  discharged 
by  their  wages.  To  prove  these  statements  take  the 
following  advertisements  from  newspapers  of  the  day : 

In  1 751:  ''Likely  negroes,  men  and  women,  im- 
ported from  the  coast  of  Africa,  .  .  .  to  be  sold  by 
Thomas  Grenell." 

In  1732:  "  Just  arrived  from  Great  Britain  and  to  be 
sold  on  board  the  ship  Alice  and  Elizabeth,  C?i^\.ddn 
Paine  commander,  several  likely  Welsh  and  English 
serving  men,  most  of  them  tradesmen." 

In  1747  :  '*  Run  away  on  April  the  25th,  from  Captain 


117 

Abraham  Kip  in  New  York,  an  Indian  man  about  eigh- 
teen years  old  and  speaks  good  English." 

Having  seen  the  Dutch  city,  we  shall  wish  to  visit  it 
now  under  its  English  masters,  and  note  the  changes 
that  have  occurred.  It  has  certainly  grown  and  solidi- 
fied, so  to  speak,  since  our  visit  in    1664,  a  hundred 


^\Plan  oJAthe  City  of  New\ork  from  an  acfhual  ourver 


r.c>, ••■•.€  ,fmHr„fm^  lUpu,u,,^wnm>fGa 


ft^^  f,  & Jfi^ywtmt  /.a*^'<^>*<r 


years  ago.  The  city  now  has  crept  north  as  far  as 
Warren  Street  on  the  west,  and  Chatham  on  the  east, 
while  a  village  plot  appears  on  the  west  of  the  "  High 
Road  to  Boston  "  (the  present  Bowery).  There  is  a  new 
wall  of  palisades  extending  from  the  East  River  through 
Franklin  Sc[uare  and  **  the  Swamp  "  to  the  line  of  the 
present  Canal  Street,  and  thence  to  the  North  River, 


ii8 


with  a  blockhouse  and  gates  at  Chatham  Street,  Broad- 
way, and  the  waterside.  The  great  pond  called  the 
Kolch,  or  Collect  (on  the  site  of  the  present  Tombs  and 
to  the  eastward  of  it),  still  remains,  while  the  Swamp 
(now  devoted  to  the  busy  warehouses  of  the  hide  and 
leather  men)^  is  covered  with  tan  vats  and  tanneries. 


The  Battery  in  1746. 


Most  of  the  streets  within  the  city  limits  are  paved, 
and  lighted  by  lanterns  suspended  from  every  seventh 
house.  There  is  a  fire  company  of  **  four  and  twenty 
able-bodied  men,"  and  two  fire  engines  "  of  Mr.  Newn- 
ham's  patent,"  the  latter  just  imported  from  London, 

1  This  somewhat  famous  locaUty  lay  south  of  the  present  approach  to 
the  East  River  Bridge  and  west  of  Franklin  Square,  extending  nearly  to 
North  William  Street. 


119 

and  a  "rattle  watch"  that  patrols  the  streets  at 
night. 

We  will  begin  our  stroll  at  the  Battery.  The  fort  is 
still  there,  very  little  changed,  but  it  has  a  new  name — 
Fort  George — after  the  reigning  king,  for  it  is  named 
anew  with  each  new  ruler  that  comes  to  the  throne.  It 
is  still  the  seat  of  government.  Here  is  the  governor's 
dwelling,  called  the  "  Government  House,"  and  a  garri- 
son of  regular  troops — two  lieutenants,  one  ensign,  three 
sergeants,  two  drummers,  a  master  gunner,  one  hundred 
privates,  four  "  matrosses,"  a  **  chirurgeon  "  (surgeon), 
a  storekeeper,  and  a  chaplain.  And  the  governor  needs 
them  all,  for  what  with  French  and  Indian  descents 
from  the  north,  rumors  of  popish  plots,  uprisings  of 
slaves,  and  quarrels  with  the  colonial  legislature,  his 
post  is  no  sinecure. 

His  residence  is  also  the  social  capitol,  and  "  high 
doings  "  often  took  place  there  in  the  old  colony  days. 
No  fete  day,  whether  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
king,  queen,  or  prince  of  the  royal  blood,  the  coming 
of  an  heir  to  the  throne,  the  advent  of  a  new  governor, 
or  a  great  national  event,  can  pass  without  the  holding 
of  a  grand  ball  at  Government  House,  to  which  come 
the  beauty  and  chivalry  of  the  town.  For  instance,  on 
October  30,  1734,  it  being  the  anniversary  of  his 
Majesty's  birthday  :  **  In  the  evening  the  whole  city  was 
illuminated.  His  Excellency  and  Lady  gave  a  splen- 
did ball  and  supper  at  the  Fort,  where  was  the  most 
numerous  and  fine  appearance  of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen 
that  had  ever  been  known  upon  the  like  occasion." 

Imposing  ceremonies  had  preceded  this  event; 


I20 

"  Between  the  hours  of  eleven  and  twelve  in  the  fore- 
noon, His  Excellency  our  Governor  was  attended  at 
his  House  in  Fort  George  by  the  Council,  Assembly, 
Merchants,  and  other  Principal  Gentlemen  and  Inhabi- 
tants of  this  and  adjacent  places.  The  Independent 
Companies  posted  here  being  under  Arms,  and  the  Can- 
non round  the  Ramparts  firing  while  His  Majesty's,  the 
Queen's,  the  Prince's,  and  the  Royal  Families',  and 
their  Royal  Highnesses  the  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Orange's  Healths  were  drunk,  and  then  followed  the. 
Healths  of  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  of  the 
Duke  of  Grafton,  of  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  and  many  other  Royal  Healths." 

At  the  coronation  of  King  George,  June  ii,  1734, 
much  the  same  ceremony  was  observed  at  the  governor's 
mansion,  and  "  afterwards  His  Excellency,  attended  by 
the  Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  etc.,  went  into  the  Field 
[the  present  City  Hall  Park],  and  received  the  Militia 
of  the  City  drawn  up  there,  and  expressed  great  sat- 
isfaction at  their  order,  discipline,  and  appearance, 
and  was  pleased  to  order  twelve  barrels  of  beer  to  be 
distributed  among  them  to  drink  their  Majesties'  and 
the   Royal  Healths." 

When  a  new  governor  came — which  was  pretty  often 
— he  was  received  with  much  state  and  ceremony. 
Thus  when  William  Cosby  arrived  in  July,  1732,  he 
landed  "  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  was  re- 
ceived at  the  Waterside  by  several  Gentlemen,  who 
attended  him  to  the  Fort.  .  The  next  day,  between  the 
Hours  of  eleven  and  twelve.  His  Excellency  walked  to 
the  City  Hall  (a  company  of  Halberdiers  and  a  Troop  of 


121 

Horse  marching  before,  and  the  Gentlemen  of  His 
Majesty's  Council,  the  Corporation,  and  a  great  number 
of  Gentlemen  and  Merchants  of  this  city  following,  the 
streets  being  lined  on  each  side  with  the  Militia),  where 
his  Commission  was  published  [i.e.,  read],  and  then  His 
Excellency  returned,  attended  as  before,  back  to  the 
Fort.  The  Militia  then  drew  up  on  the  Parade  and  saluted 
him  with  three  volleys." 

Leaving  the  Battery  and  its  memories,  let  us  walk  up 


City  Hall,  Wall  Street. 

Broad  Street  to  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Wall.  The 
canal  in  the  middle  of  Broad  Street  has  been  filled  in, 
and  the  street  itself  is  lined  with  handsome  dwellings. 
At  the  northeast  corner  of  the  last-named  streets  (where 
now  stands  the  gray  granite  pile  of  the  Subtreasury, 
with  its  statue  of  Washington  looking  calmly  on  the 
hurrying  crowds)  is  the  new  City  Hall,  which  we  shall 
refer  to  later  as  the  cradle  of  national  existence. 


122 

The  city  built  it  in  1 700,  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand 
pounds,  and  sold  the  old  City  Hall,  built  by  Kieft,  for 
nine  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  to  help  defray  the 
cost.  Here  the  Provincial  Assembly  and  the  governor's 
council  hold  their  sessions,  and  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  mayor's  and  admiralty  courts  meet.  Here,  too,  the 
royal  governors  publish  their  commissions,  and  the  new 
mayors  also. 

The  latter  ceremonies  are  attended  with  more  pomp 
than  in  later  days.  Thus,  Mayor  Thomas  Noell,  who 
took  the  oath  here  in  1701,  records  in  his  diary: 

**  On  Tuesday,  the  14th  day  of  October,  1701,  I  was 
commissioned  and  sworn  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  before  the  Honorable  John  Nanfan,  Esq.,  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  of  this  Province,  and  Council,  in  His 
Majesty's  Fort,  William  Henry,  and  from  thence  accord- 
ing to  the  usual  solemnity  I  went  to  Trinity  Church, 
where  was  a  sermon  preached  by  Mr.  Vesey,  which 
ended,  I  went  to  the  City  Hall,  attended  by  the  Re- 
corder, Aldermen,  and  Assistants,  and  other  officers, 
when,  after  the  ringing  of  three  bells,  I  published  my 
Commission,  and  then  went  up  into  the  Courthouse,  and 
took  the  chair,  when  Isaac  de  Riemer,  Esq.,  the  late 
Mayor,  delivered  to  me  the  charter  and  seals  of  this 
city." 

Visitors  of  distinction  were  usually  received  at  the 
City  Hall.  Thus  when  Lord  Augustus  Fitz  Roy  arrived 
in  1 732  to  marry  Governor  Cosby's  daughter,  the  mayor, 
aldermen,  and  assistants  waited  on  him,  attended  by  the 
chief  officers  of  the  city  regiment,  *'  and  being  intro- 
cjuced  to  his  Lordship  in  the  Council  Chamber^  the  Re- 


123 

corder  addressed  himself  to  him  in  the  name  of  the 
Corporation,  congratulating  his  Lordship  on  his  safe 
arrival,  and  returning  the  thanks  of  the  city  for  the 
Honor  they  received  by  his  Lordship's  presence,  as  also 
for  his  Lordship's  condescension  in  being  pleased  to 
become  a  member  thereof.  Then  the  Worshipful 
the  Mayor  presented  his  Lordship  with  the  copy 
of  his  Freedom,  to  which  was  annexed  the  city  seal 
inclosed  in  a  curious  Gold  Box,  with  the  arms  of  the 
city  thereon  neatly  engraved ;  which  his  Lordship 
was  pleased  -  to  receive  with  the  greatest  Goodness 
and  Complaisance,  and  likewise  to  assure  the  Corpora- 
tion that  he  should  always  entertain  the  kindest  senti- 
ments of  this  Expression  of  their  Regard  and  Esteem 
for  him." 

This  "  gold  box  "  was  made  by  Charles  Le  Roux,  the 
Tiffany  of  those  days.  Hrs  bill  for  it  was  for  the  gold  (one 
ounce  twelve  pennyweights)  ;^iO  8.y.,  and  for  "  fashione 
and  engraving  the  Box"  £4,  in  all  ^14  Ss.,  or  over 
seventy  dollars  of  our  money.  When  Major  Alexander 
Cosby,  the  governor's  brother,  and  Thomas  Freeman 
of  London,  visited  the  city  the  next  year  (i  733-1 734). 
that  the  latter  might  *marry  the  governor's  second 
daughter,  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  tendered  them 
in  a  silver  "  Guilt  Box "  that  cost,  for  the  two, 
£7  IS.  \\y2d. 

At  the  head  of  Wall  Street  stands  Trinity  Church, 
erected  in  1696,  as  before  said,  and  greatly  enlarged  and 
improved  in  1 737.  The  first  edifice  is  said  to  have  been 
one  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  long  by  seventy- two 
feet  wide,  with  a  steeple,  the  pride  of  the  city,  one  hun- 


124 

dred  and  seventy-five  feet  high.  Over  the  great  door 
was  a  sonorous  Latin  inscription,  which  done  into  the 
EngHsh  of  that  day  read  as  follows : 

"  This  Trinity  Church  was  founded  in  the  eighth  year 
of  the  Most  Illustrious  Sovereign  Lord  William  III., 
by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  England,  Scotland, 
France,  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  and  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1696,  and  was  built  by  the  voluntary 
contributions  and  gifts  of  some  persons,  and  chiefly  en- 
riched and  promoted  by  the  bounty  of  his  Excellency 
Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher,  captain  general  and  gov- 
ernor in  chief  of  this  province,  in  the  time  of  whose 
government  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  of  the  Protes- 
tant religion  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  now  estab- 
lished by  law,  were  incorporated  by  a  charter  under  the 
seal  of  the  province ;  and  many  other  valuable  gifts  he 
gave  to  it  of  his  private  fortune." 

This  edifice  was  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  1776, 
and  rebuilt  in  1790.  The  present  beautiful  Gothic 
structure  was  built  in  1846. 

It  is  but  a  few  steps  down  Wall  Street  to  the  water 
front,  then,  as  later,  one  of  the  most  fascinating  portions 
of  the  city.  To  make  its  round  in  our  own  time  is  to 
come  in  contact  with  the  tongues,  costumes,  and  prod- 
ucts of  the  wide  earth.  To  a  lesser  extent  this  was  the 
case  in  colonial  times. 

There  are  more  docks,  ships,  and  warehouses  than 
we  noticed  in  1664.  The  pirates  and  privateersmen 
are  the  most  picturesque,  and  in  this  long-roofed,  low- 
porched  tavern  of  Captain  Benjamin  Kierstede  we  shall 
probably  find  a  score  or  more  of  them  clustered  about 


125 

its  box  stove  and  spinning  yarns  after  the  manner  of 
sailormen.  We  are  struck  by  their  resemblance  to 
VVhittier's  sea  dog  : 

**  Salt  as  the  sea  wind,  tough  and  dried 
As  a  lean  cusk  from  Labrador." 

They  are  famous  fighters,  and  prove  an  efficient  arm 
of  the  service  in  these  bitter  French  and  Indian  wars. 
The  "London  Magazine"  of  September,  1757,  stated 
that  since  "  the  beginning  of  the  war  "  (French  and  In- 
dian War,  1 755-1 763)  thirty-nine  vessels,  with  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  guns  and  one  thousand  and  fifty 
men,  had  been  fitted  out  to  prey  on  French  commerce ; 
while  a  letter  from  a  merchant  in  New  York  to  a  friend 
in  London,  of  January  5,  1757,  declares:  **  There  are 
now  thirty  Privateers  out  of  this  Place,  and  ten  more  on 
the  stocks  and  launched."  The  letter  writer  adds  that 
up  to  that  time  (1757)  these  vessels  had  brought  in 
fourteen  prizes,  valued  at  over  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds. 

The  privateersmen  were  a  brave,  reckless,  daredevil 
class.  They  displayed  much  ingenuity  in  inventing 
striking,  terrible;  or  outre  names  for  their  vessels.  Thus 
we  read  of  the  Norfolk  Revenge,  Game  Coek,  Try- 
All,  Favorite  Betsey,  Hook- Him- Snivey,  Who'd- Have- 
Thojig/it-Ity  Spitfire,  Surprise,  Eagle,  Tyger,  Royal 
Hiniter,  Tory's  Revenge,  Little  Bob,  Flying  Harlequin, 
Revolution,  Wheel-of- Fortune,  Channing  Polly,  Charm- 
ing Peggy,  Dreadnaught,  Hornet,  Decoy,  and  others. 
Many  of  them  made  fortunes  in  a  few  months  and  spent 
them  as  quickly.     Thus  the  privateer  brig  Clinton  cap- 


126 

tured  the  French  ship  La  Pomme,  v^'iih.  a  cargo  of  indigo, 
cotton,  and  sugar  vakied  at  forty  thousand  pounds. 
The  Clinton  was  out  but  six  weeks,  and  every  man  be- 
fore the  mast  received  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds' 
prize  money.  Furthermore,  their  captain,  Bevan,  had 
an  "  ox  roasted  whole  and  mixed  a  hogshead  of  punch 
for  them  in  the  fields." 

No  wonder  that  with  such  lures  Governor  Hamilton 
of  New  Jersey  should  complain  that  the  privateer  cap- 
tains were  sweeping  into  their  ranks  the  flower  of  the 
youth  of  his  province. 

Many  of  the  privateersmen  turned  pirates, — that  is, 
attacked  and  took  the  ships  of  all  nations, — and  thus 
became  the  common  enemies  of  mankind.  The  most 
famous  of  these  was  Captain  William  Kidd,  who  was  a 
notable  figure  in  New  York  in  those  days.  When  we 
first  hear  of  him  he  was  a  reputable  shipmaster,  captain 
of  the  bark  Antigua,  trading  between  New  York  and 
London,  and  well  known  to  the  merchants  of  both  as  a 
bold  and  skillful  navigator.  In  his  certificate  of  mar- 
riage to  "Sarah  Oort,  widow,"  in  1691,  he  is  styled 
'*  Captain  William  Kidd,  gentleman." 

By  1694  the  pirates  had  so  increase  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  that  they  promised  to  sweep  the  ships  of  the  East 
India  Company  from  those  seas,  and  that  powerful  com- 
pany appealed  to  the  English  government  for  protection. 
But  all  the  king's  ships  were  engaged  in  the  war  with 
France  then  raging,  and  could  not  be  spared  to  police 
those  distant  waters.  This  fact  caused  the  king  and 
admiralty  to  listen  with  favor  to  a  plan  now  proposed  to 
them  by  Captain  Kidd  through  his  friend  and  patron. 


127 

the  great  Robert  Livingston  of  New  York,  which  was  to 
fit  out  a  private  armed  vessel,  put  it  in  charge  of  the 
aforesaid  Captain  Kidd,  and  authorize  him  to  beat  up  a 
crew  and  go  in  search  of  the  pirates.  After  some 
persuasion  the  king  consented.  The  Adventure  G alley ^  a 
large  ship,  was  fitted  out,  and  with  seventy  men,  just 
enough  to  man  her,  Kidd  sailed  for  New  York,  arriving 
in  the  spring  of  1696.  Here  he  had  no  difficulty  in 
securing  one  hundred  more  men  from  the  class  described, 
and  with  them  put  to  sea.  But  the  wise  old  sea  dogs 
of  the  port  shook  their  heads  over  the  venture.  They 
said  that  when  Captain  Kidd  got  to  sea,  if  he  did  not 
find  pirates  to  capture  and  provide  prize  money  for  his 
crew,  the  latter  would  mutiny  and  become  pirates  them- 
selves— which  was  what  happened,  if  the  story  of  Kidd 
himself  is  to  be  believed.  After  patrolling  the  Ameri- 
can coast  for  a  while  without  result,  Kidd  bore  up  for 
the  Red  Sea,  and  was  not  seen  in  New  York  for  nearly 
three  years,  although  rumors  that  he  had  himself  turned 
pirate  were  freely  bandied  about.  But  in  1699  Kidd 
sailed  into  Gardiners  Bay,  at  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island,  and  dispatched  a  message  to  Governor  Bellomont 
at  New  York.  In  it  he  said  that  his  men  had  mutinied 
and  forced  him  to  turn  pirate  ;  that  he  had  left  his  "  large 
Moorish  ship,"  the  Quidah  Merchant,  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  would  deliver  her  up  and  a  large  amount  of  treasure 
if  he  could  be  assured  a  free  pardon.  Bellomont,  who 
was  in  Boston  when  the  message  reached  him,  replied 
that  if  Kidd  could  establish  his  innocence  he  should  not 
be  molested.  Kidd  accordingly  came  to  Boston,  where 
he  was  arrested,  and  after  examination  was  sent  to  Eng- 


128 

land  for  trial.  The  trial  was  one  of  the  most  notable  in 
the  United  Kingdom ;  it  ended  in  his  conviction,  and  his 
being  hanged  in  chains  in  Execution  Dock  in  1701. 

Such  is  the  true  story  of  Captain  Kidd.  Perhaps  he 
never  would  have  become  famous  but  for  the  English 
balladmakers  and  our  own  masters  of  fiction,  Irving  and 
Poe. 

But  it  is  time  that  we  continued  our  stroll.  We  will 
go  north  along  Pearl  Street,  which,  with  the  cross  streets 
leading  out  of  Broadway,  is  the  shopping  center — the 
Broadway, Sixth  Avenue,  Fourteenth  Street,and  Twenty- 
third  Street  of  1760.  The  stores  are  plain  and  unpre- 
tending. In  many  cases  the  shopkeeper's  family  lives 
above  the  store.  They  offer  all  sorts  of  wares  for  sale 
under  one  roof,  like  the  modern  department  store.  The 
Wanamaker's  of  New  York  at  this  time  is  the  store  of 
Adolph  Phillipse,  Esq.,  a  great  man  indeed,  with  a  house 
in  town,  a  manor  at  Phillipseborough,  who  has  been 
king's  councilor,  master  in  chancery,  judge,  and  speaker 
of  the  Assembly.  He  is  a  great  merchant,  too,  sending 
ventures  as  far  as  India,  and  having  a  large  wholesale 
store  as  well  as  retail  department.  His  store  is  a  brick 
building  three  stories  high,  the  lower  story  being  devoted 
to  the  wholesale  trade,  and  the  second  to  the  retail. 
The  former  is  filled  with  country  merchants  as  we  enter, 
sampling  and  tasting.  A  prominent  feature  is  the  great 
oaken,  iron-bound  chest,  in  which,  there  being  neither 
safe  nor  bank  vault,  are  kept  the  money,  wampum, 
pearls,  and  jewelry  of  the  establishment. 

The  story  above  is  well  filled  with  the  fair  ladies  of 
Manhattan,    to  whom   the   handsome    merchant's   rich 


129 

East  India  fabrics  and  English  goods  are  a  great  attrac- 
tion. They  are  pricing  taffeta,  paduasoy,  silk,  tabby, 
widow's  crape,  brocaded  lutestring,  flowered  Spanish 
silk,  India  dimity,  cherry  derry,  and  the  like,  that 
modern  merchants  would  no  doubt  find  it  difficult  to 
produce. 

But  we  will  continue  our  walk  north  along  Pearl 
Street,  flourishing  our  "  keanes,"  as  the  manner  of  men 
about  town  is.  What  a  number  of  markets  there  are, 
long,  low,  open  buildings  roofed  with  tiles;  the  meal, 
fish,  oyster,  and  meat  markets,  one  at  the  foot  of  nearly 
every  street.  The  Bear  Market  (now  Washington), 
over  on  the  North  River  front,  was  so  called,  it  is  said, 
because  the  first  meat  sold  there  was  that  of  a  bear 
shot  while  swimming  the  North  River. 

There  are  many  quaint  craftsmen  on  the  "  slips  "  and 
short  streets  crossing  Pearl;  for  instance,  this  shop  of 
Anthony  Lamb  in  Old  Slip,  **  at  the  sign  of  the  Quad- 
rant and  Surveying  Compass,"  where  one  can  buy 
**  quadrants,  forestaffs,  nocturnals,  rectifiers,  universal 
scales,  gunters,  sliding  gunters,  wood  or  brass  box  com- 
passes," and  so  on  for  half  a  hundred  instruments.  At 
the  house  of  William  Bradford,  **  next  door  but  one  to 
the  Treasurer's,"  lodges  **  Moses  Slaughter,  staymaker," 
from  London,  who  offers  "  a  parcel  of  extraordinary 
good  and  fashionable  stays  of  his  own  making.  Slaugh- 
ter is  anxious  to  suit  those  that  want  with  extraordinary 
good  stays."  Another  is  the  shop  of  John  Wallace,  **  at 
the  sign  of  the  Cross  Swords,  next  door  to  Mrs.  Byfield, 
near  the  Fly  Market,"  who  "  makes,  mends,  and  grinds 
all  sorts  of  knives,  razors,  scissors,  and  penknives,  and 

TODD,   N.  Y.— 9 


I30 

surgeons'  instruments,"  as  well  as  **  jacks,  locks,  keys, 
and  stillards." 

At  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Great  Dock,  "  next  door 
to  the  sign  of  the  Leopard,"  Simon  Franks  of  London 
has  a  small  shop,  "  where  he  makes  and  sells  all  sorts  of 
perukes  after  the  best  and  newest  fashion,  and  cuts  and 
dresses  ladies'  wigs  and   towers." 

The  strangest  shop,  however,  is  that  of  Joseph  Lid- 
dell,  **  Pewterer,"  "  at  the  sign  of  the  Platter,  at  the 
lower  end  of  Wall  Street  near  the  Meal  Market,"  who 
sells  *'  pewter  ware  of  all  sorts,  cannons,  six  and  four 
pounders,  and  swivel  guns,  cannon  shot,  cart  and  wagon 
boxes,"  etc.  "He' will  pay  you  hard  money  for  old 
brass  and  pewter." 

The  undertaker  has  a  most  gruesome  establishment. 
Coffins,  some  very  ornate  in  silver  and  rosewood,  stand 
on  end  in  his  warerooms.  Over  a  bier  at  the  farther  end 
are  spread  the  two  parish  palls,  one  of  black  velvet  for 
general  use,  the  other  of  cloth  with  a  border  of  white 
sflk  a  foot  wide,  designed  only  for  unmarried  men  and 
maidens.  On  shelves  around  the  sides  of  the  room  are 
flannel  shrouds,  gloves,  scarfs,  hatbands,  and  other 
articles  of  mourning  costume.  In  a  tray  of  lacquer 
work  on  the  counter  are  the  shopman's  cards,  which  in- 
form the  public  that  he  *'  hath  a  velvet  pall,  a  good  hears, 
mourning  cloaks,  and  black  hangings  for  rooms  to  be  let 
at  reasonable  rates.  He  hath  also  for  sale  all  sorts  of 
mourning  and  half  mourning,  white  silk  for  scarfs  and 
hatbands  at  funerals,  with  coffins,  shrouds,  and  all  sorts 
of  burying  cloaths  for  the  dead." 

The  signs  are  another  striking  feature  of  the  streets. 


131 

Tiiey  swing  above  every  door,  not  bearing  the  name  of 
the  shopkeeper  as  with  us,  but  the  figure  of  some  ani- 
mal or  object.  The  reason  is  that  many  of  the  people 
cannot  read,  but  they  can  tell  a  shop  by  the  sign  of  a 
Cart  and  Horse,  a  Bear,  or  a  pair  of  Crossed  Swords. 

Thus  the  Unicorn  and  Mortar  is  a  grocer's  sign,  a 
Chair  Wheel  of  a  chairmaker,  a  Dial  of  a  clockmaker, 
the  King's  Arms  of  the  Exchange  Coffee  House,  the 
Scotch  Arms  of  another  tavern,  while  over  Thomas 
Lepper's  **  Ordinary,"  opposite  the  Merchants'  Coffee 
House,  swings  the  sign  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  He 
advertises  a  table  d'hote  dinner  at  **  half  an  hour  after 
one."  The  Boston  post  puts  up  at  the  sign  of  the 
Black  Horse  in  Upper  Queen  (now  Pearl)  Street. 
A  Bunch  of  Grapes,  Blue  Ball,  Dolphin,  Two  Cupids, 
Jamaica  Pilot  Boat,  Rose  and  Crown,  Fighting  Cock, 
Spread  Eagle,  White  Swan,  the  Sun,  the  Leopard, 
the  Bible,  are  familiar  and  distinctive  signs. 

The  coffeehouses,  introduced  from  London,  are  quite 
numerous,  and  the  favorite  resorts  of  all  classes.  As  a 
resident  of  the  city  at  this  time  writes,  "  You  have  all 
manner  of  news  there.  You  have  a  good  fire  which 
you  may  sit  by  as  long  as  you  please ;  you  have  a  dish 
of  coffee ;  you  meet  your  friends  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  and  all  for  a  penny,  if  you  don't  care  to  spend 
more." 

The  Exchange  Coffee  House  is  the  most  exclusive 
and  elegant,  the  Merchants'  the  most  popular  and  com- 
fortable. Shall  we  enter  ?  The  floor  is  bare  and  sanded, 
the  tables  and  chairs  very  plain,  the  prints  on  the  walls 
very  high-colored ;  but  there  is  a  pleasant  fire,  a  perpet- 


132 

ual  supply  of  hot  water,  and  the  coffee  and  tea  pots  close 
by  to  keep  warm.  Here  the  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York  newspapers  (small  two-page  affairs  filled 
mostly  with  extracts  from  London  journals)  are  "  taken 


A  Coffeehouse. 


in."     A  gentleman  is  reading  from  one  to  a  group  of 
interested  listeners  as  we  enter: 

*'  Last  Thursday  morning  a  creature  of  an  uncommon 
size  and  shape  was  observed  to  break  through  a  window 
of  a  storehouse  of  this  city  and  jump  into  the  street, 
where  was  suddenly  a  number  of  spectators,  who  followed 
it  till  it  jumped  over  several  high  fences,  and  at  last 
stuck  between  two  houses,  where  they  shot  it.  Many 
had  a  curiosity  to  view  it,  and  say  it  was  seven  feet  long. 
Most  of  them  say  it  is  a  panther,  but  whence  it  came,  or 
how  it  got  into  the  storehouse,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know." 


133 


Odd,  isn't  it,  the  idea  of  chasing^  panthers  around  on 
lower  Broadway  and  wedging  them  between  buildings 
on  Broad  Street?  It  emphasizes  the  crowning  glory  of 
the  American  metropolis  that  all  her  wealth,  beauty, 
solidity,    civilization, 

has      been      wrested  — ~^^        V^- 

from  forest  and  field 
in  a  little  over  two 
centuries  and  a  half. 
As  we  come  up  to 
Peck  Slip  there  is  an  alarm  of  fire,  and  we  step  one  side 
to  see  the  Newnham  fire  engines  with  the  volunteer 
firemen  go  by.  The  former  have  been  recently  in- 
vented, and  are  force  pumps 
worked  by  long  handles,  yet 
capable,  we  are  told,  of  throw- 
ing a  stream  seventy  feet  high. 
Each  requires  twelve  men  to 
work  it.  A  few  years  before 
(i  736),  the  city  had  built  a  house  for  these  engines  near 
the  "watchhouse"  in  Broad  Street.  The  volunteer 
firemen  were  appointed  by  act  of  Assembly  of  Septem- 
ber 19,  1738,  their 
only  salary  being  that 
they  were  not  obliged 
to  serve  on  juries,  nor 
as  constables,  survey- 
ors of  highways,  or 
militia. 

In  I  798  the  city  firemen  were  chartered  as  the  Volun- 
teer Fire  Department,  and  so  continued  until  1865,  when 


134 

the  present  efficient  system  of  a  paid  force  took  its 
place. 

Here  at  Peck  Slip  we  may  take  the  ferryboat  for 
Brooklyn.  There  is  another  running  from  the  Fly 
Market  at  the  foot  of  Maiden  Lane,  but  both  land  at 
the   modern   Fulton   Street,  on   the   Brooklyn  shore. 

A  picture  of  the  day  shows  the  dock  and  ferry  house  and 
the  queer  cattle  boats  with  their  one  mast  and  spritsail 
forward.  The  passenger  boats  are  also  furnislied  with 
a  sail,  but  when  the  wind  is  contrary  it  requires  as  long 
to  make  the  ferry  as  in  1664,  while  the  sudden  gusts 
sweeping  down  the  river  sometimes  capsize  the  boat. 
Timid  passengers  often  wait  two  or  three  days  for  a 
favorable  wind  before  venturing  over. 

The  men  of  colonial  times  have  perhaps  impressed 
you  as  being  stern,  cold,  formal,  unsocial  beings,  rarely 
unbending  from  the  restraint  and  dignity  of  official  or 
business  life;  but  in  this  you  do  them  an  injustice. 
They  had  their  pleasures,  the  principal  ones  being  thea- 
ter going,  card  playing,  dancing,  horse  racing,  horseback 
riding,  sailing,  skating,  athletic  games  and  sports.  There 
was  a  playhouse  in  New  York  as  early  as  October,  i  733, 
as  we  know  by  an  advertisement  of  it  in  the  New  York 
"  Gazette  "  of  that  date.  A  playbill  in  the  "  Weekly 
Post  Boy"  of  March  12,  1750,  informs  the  public  that, 
"  by  His  Excellency's  permission,"  "  the  Historical^ 
Tragedy  of  Richard  HI.  will  be  presented  at  the  theater 
in  Nassau  Street,  together  with  a  farce  called  the  Bean 
in  the  Sudds.  Tickets  to  be  had  of  the  printer,  pit  55., 
gallery  3.^.  To  begin  precisely  at  half  an  hour  after  6 
o'clock,  and  no  person  to  be  admitted  behind  the  scenes." 


135 

There  were  other  entertainments,  however.  Thus  in 
1749  John  Bonnin  advertises  his  "  Pliilosophical  Optical 
Machine,"  which  was  to  be  exhibited  at  *'  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  continue  showing  till  nine  at  night." 
Then  there  was  Punch's  company  of  comedians,  and  a 
"  New  Pantomime  Entertainment  of  Grotesque  Charac- 
ters in  Mr.  Holt's  Long  Room,"  and  a  "  Concert  of 
Vocal  and  Instrumental  Musick  at  the  House  of  Robert 
Tod,  to  begin  precisely  at  five  o'clock.  Tickets  at  5i\" 
The  most  remarkable,  however,  was  a  new  electrical 
machine,  announced  in  the  '*  Post  Boy  "  of  May  16,  i  748, 
which  showed  **  the  most  surprising  effects  or  Phe- 
nomena on  Electricity  of  attracting,  repelling,  and  Fle- 
nemics  Force,  particularly  the  new  way  of  electryfying 
several  persons  at  the  same  time,  so  that  Fire  shall  dart 
from  all  Parts  of  their  Bodies." 

But  these  merrymakings,  balls,  fetes,  and  stately 
ceremonials  passed  with  the  court  circle  that  made 
them  possible,  and  a  sterner  age  succeeded.  In  i  764 
"  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls"  were  near  at  hand. 
Let  us  turn  now  to  consider  them  and  the  honorable 
role  that  New  York  played  in  that  heroic  age. 


XI.    THROWING    OFF    THE     BRITISH    YOKE. 

IN  March,  1765,  the  British  Parliament  passed  the 
Stamp  Act,  the  Httle  entering  wedge  that  first 
opened  the  breach  between  the  American  colonies  and 
the  mother  country,  England,  a  breach  that  was  suffered 
to  grow  and  widen  through  the  folly  and  weakness  of 
her  king,  George  III.,  and  the  stupidity  and  wickedness 
of  his  ministers,  until  at  last  England  lost  her  colonies, 
and  they  came  into  a  free  national  existence. 

In  itself  this  Stamp  Act  was  not  so  oppressive  a 
measure.  It  simply  enacted  that  all  receipts,  deeds, 
contracts,  and  other  legal  papers,  even  to  marriage 
licenses,  should  be  written  or  printed  on  stamped  paper, 
which  paper  should  be  sold  only  by  the  collectors  of 
revenue,  and  should  form  part  of  the  tax  to  be  collected 
from  the  colonies.  Such  a  tax  is  a  favorite  mode  of 
raising  revenue  to-day  with  several  European  govern- 
ments, as  well  as  with  our  own. 

The  difficulty  with  the  colonists  was  that  a  principle, 
a  right,  was  involved.  In  order  to  put  ourselves  in  their 
place  we  must  stop  and  consider  how  the  Briton  of  that 
day  prized  and  jealously  guarded  the  British  constitu- 
tion. And  well  he  might,  for  the  people  had  secured 
that  noble  instrument  by  a  thousand  years  of  struggle 
with  kings  and  nobles.     First  came  Magna  Charta,  the 

13^ 


137 

Great  Charter,  which  the  barons  forced  from  King  John 
in  1215  ;  next  the  Petition  of  Right  in  1628,  one  of  the 
conditions  of  which  was  that  the  king  should  not  make 
"forced  loans,"  that  is,  tax  the  people  without  their 
consent ;  third,  the  Habeas  Corpus  ("  you  may  have 
the  body")  Act,  which  prevented  the  king  from  impris- 
oning a  subject  without  due  process  of  law ;  fourth, 
the  Bill  of  Rights  of  1689,  and,  fifth,  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment of  1700,  the  last  two  still  further  limiting  the 
power  of  the  crown. 

There  were,  of  course,  other  grants,  but  the  above 
are  generally  considered  as  the  five  great  pillars  of  the 
English  constitution.  Now,  the  American  colonists 
in  1765  considered  themselves  Britons,  and  therefore 
heirs  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  this  grand  instru- 
ment, and  they  heldthat  this  act  of  the  king  and  Parlia- 
ment in  taxing  them  without  their  consent  was  illegal 
and  unconstitutional,  and  that  they  should  resist  it  to  the 
end  ;  for  if  the  king  could  lay  this  tax  without  their  con- 
sent he  could  lay  others  and  others,  until  their  property 
was  all  swept  away. 

They  were  willing,  they  said,  to  pay  their  just  share 
of  the  taxes,  but  if  they  did  they  must  send  men  to 
Parliament  to  look  after  their  rights  and  defend  their 
interests.      Such  was  the  principle  at  stake. 

Statesmen  would  have  foreseen  that  the  time  had 
now  come  for  making  America  a  part  of  the  empire 
and  giving  jier  due  representation ;  but  King  George 
and  his  ministers  were  not  statesmen,  and  they  rushed 
blindly  on  to  the  disruption  of  their  empire. 

You  have  read  in  your  histories  hpw  th^  ojh^r  ppjp- 


138 

nies  resisted  this  act.  New  York's  action  was  as  spirited 
and  determined  as  any.  Hitherto  her  chief  cause  of 
complaint  had  been  that  slie  had  not  sufficient  voice  in 
her  local  government,  and  that  the  laws  and  regulations 
governing  her  trade  were  burdensome  and  intended 
to  confine  it  solely  to  the  mother  country ;  but  here 
was  a  clear  case  of  the  violation  of  an  Englishman's 
constitutional  rights,  and  her  people  determined  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  stamped  paper. 

The  ship  Edzvard,  bearing  the  first  cargo  of  it,  arrived 
from  England  on  October  23,  i  765,  and  as  she  anchored 
under  the  guns  of  Fort  George,  though  convoyed  by  a 
frigate  and  tender,  she  was  greeted  with  hisses,  derisive 
cheers,  and  menacing  gestures  by  a  great  crowd  of  citi- 
zens gathered  on  the  Battery  to  see  her  come  in,  while 
the  shipping  in  the  harbor  lowered  their  flags  to  half- 
mast  in  token  of  grief.  That  night,  men  stealing  by  the 
rattle  watch  went  quietly  through  the  town,  posting  on 
trees,  fences,  and  buildings  handbills  on  which  was  writ- 
ten in  a  bold,  free  hand : 

"  PRO     PATRICI. 

'•  The   first    man    that   distributes   or    makes    use    of 

stamped  paper  let  him  take  care  of  his  house,  person, 

and  effects. 

"Vox  POPULI." 

These  handbills  produced  the  effect  designed.  McEvers, 
the  collector,  to  whom  the  stamped  paper  had  been  con- 
signed, refused  to  touch  it.  No  one  could  be  found  bold 
enough  even  to  receive  it  into  his  warehouse  or  shop. 


»39 

At  last,  in  despair,  Lieutenant  Governor  Colden  or- 
dered it  stored  in  tiie  fort  until  the  1st  of  November, 
the  day  the  act  was  to  go  into  operation,  should 
arrive. 

Thursday,  the  3 1st  of  October,  came,  the  day  on  which 
the  governor  was  to  take  the  oath  that  would  put  the 
act  into  effect.  The  city  awoke  in  a  fever  of  excitement. 
Bells  were  tolled ;  flags  flew  at  half-mast.  **  The  last 
day  of  liberty,"  the  Whigs  called  it.  Here  and  there 
muffled  drums  were  heard  beating  the  funeral  march  ; 
great  numbers  of  country  people  streamed  in ;  there 
were,  also,  many  sailors  from  the  ships ;  the  townspeople 
joined  these,  and  all  paraded  the  streets,  singing  patri- 
otic songs,  and  threatening  dire  vengeance  en  any  one 
daring  to  use  the  stamped  paper.  In  the  evening,  two 
hundred  of  the  principal  merchants  engaged  in  trade 
with  England  met  in  the  assembly  room  of  the  City 
Arms  Tavern,  made  brave  and  patriotic  speeches,  and 
passed  spirited  resolutions  *'  to  import  no  goods  from 
England  while  the  Stamp  Act  remained  unrepealed," 
"  to  countermand  all  orders  for  spring  goods  already 
sent,"  "  to  sell  no  English  goods  on  commission,"  and 
"  to  buy  none  from  strangers  that  might  be  sent  out." 

At  the  same  meeting  a  committee  of  correspondence 
was  appointed  to  urge  similar  action  on  the  part  of  other 
cities.  Philadelphia  merchants  did  not  sign  this  *'  non- 
importation agreement,"  as  it  was  called,  until  the  14th, 
and  Boston  merchants  not  until  December  9;  so  we 
see  that  both  the  nonimportation  acts  and  the  com- 
mittees of  correspondence  of  the  Revolution,  of  which 
so  much  has  been  said,  had  their  origin  in  New  York. 


140 

Further,  it  was  agreed  at  this  time  to  hold  a  grand  mass 
meeting  next  evening  on  the  common  (now  City  Hall 
Park).  What  took  place  then  is  so  vividly  described  by 
a  country  lad,  E.  Carther  by  name,  who  came  in  with 
the  others,  that  we  give  his  letter  just  as  it  was  written. 

First  he  informed  his  parents  what  the  governor  did 
6n  this  memorable  Stamp  Act  day: 

"  He  sent  for  the  soldiers  from  Tortoise ;  he  planted 
the  cannon  against  the  city ;  he  fixed  the  cow  horns  with 
musket  balls.  Two  cannon  were  planted  against  the 
fort  gate  for  fear  the  mob  should  break  in,  loaded  with 
grape  shot ;  he  ordered  the  cannon  of  the  Battery  to  be 
spiked  up  for  fear  the  mob  should  come  so  far  as  to 
break  out  in  civil  war  and  knock  down  the  fort.  Major 
James  had  said,  *  Never  fear,  I  will  drive  New  York  with 
500  artillery  soldiers.'  He  [Major  James]  placed  sol- 
diers at  the  Gaol  to  prevent  the  mob  letting  out  the 
prisoners. 

"He  ordered  15  artillery  soldiers  at  his  house  near 
the  Coladge  [Columbia  College],  where  Black  Sam  for- 
merly dwelt,  and  the  rest  of  the  soldiers  he  kept  within 
the  fort  ready  for  an  engagement." 

In  the  evening  the  citizens  began  to  muster  about  the 
streets. 

"  About  seven  in  the  evening  I  heard  a  great  Hozaing 
near  the  Broadway.  I  ran  that  way  with  a  number  of 
others  when  the  mob  first  began.  They  had  an  ephogy 
[effigy]  of  the  Governor  made  of  paper  which  sat  on  an 
old  chair  that  a  seaman  carried  on  his  head.  The  mob 
went  from  the  Fields  down  the  Fly  [Pearl  Street]  Hoza- 
ing at  every  corner  with  amazing  sight  of  candles.     The 


141 


mob  went  from  there  to  Mr.  McEvers  who  was  ap- 
pointed for  Stamp  master  in  London.  Since  he  did  not 
accept  it  they  honored  him  with  three  cheers.  From 
thence  they  went  to  the  Fort  that  the  Governor  might  see 
his  ephogy  if  he  dare  show  his  face.  The  mob  gave  seven 
Hozas  and  threatened  the  officer  upon  the  wall.  They 
jeered  Major 
James  for  say- 
ing he  could 
drive  New 
York  with  500 
men.  Themob 
had  assurance 

enough         to    Bs^^MMMspss^msr^^mmi  k  i    > 
break       open   BBHS^^^^^H^^I/^^^ 
the        Gover-    P^^^^j^g^HltJ^^  ^ 

nor's  coach 
house,  and 
took  his  coach 
from  under  the 
muzzles  of  his 
cannon.  They 
put  the  eph- 
ogy upon  the  coach,  one  sat  up  for  coachman  with  the 
whip  in  his  hand,  whilst  others  drawed  it  about  the  town, 
down  to  the  Coffee  house,  and  the  Merchants'  Exchange. ' ' 

After  speeches  by  their  leaders,  they  turned  and 
marched  back  to  the  fort  **  with  about  500  or  600  can- 
dles to  alight  them." 

"  I  ran  down  to  the  fort  to  hear  what  they  said.  As 
the  mob  came  down  it  made  a  beautiful  appearance,  and 


142 

as  soon  as  Major  James  saw  them  I  heard  him  say  from 
off  the  walls:  '  Here  they  come  by.'  —  As  soon  as  the 
mob  saw  the  fort  they  gave  three  cheers,  and  came 
down  to  it.  They  went  under  the  cannon  which  was 
planted  against  them  with  grape  shot.  They  bid  a 
soldier  upon  the  walls  to  tell  the  'rebel  drummer'  or 
^Major  James  to  give  orders  to  fire.  They  placed  the 
gallows  against  the  fort  gate,  and  took  clubs  and  beat 
against  it,  and  then  gave  three  Hozas  in  defiance.  They 
then  concluded  to  burn  the  ephogy,  and  the  Governor's 
coach  in  the  Bowling  Green  before  their  eyes." 

After  burning  the  coach,  the  people,  mad  with  excite- 
ment, went  to  Major  James's  house  and  destroyed  his 
furniture,  except  "  one  red  silk  curtain  and  the  colors  of 
the  royal  regiment,"  which  they  carried  off  in  triumph. 

Our  letter  writer  continues  :  "  The  third  day  they  was 
resolved  to  have  the  Governor  dead  or  alive.  The  fort 
got  up  the  fascines  in  order  for  battle,  and  the  mob 
began  before  dark.  The  Governor  sent  for  his  Council 
which  held  about  two  hours  whilst  thousands  stood  by 
ready  for  the  word.  The  Governor  consented,  and 
promised  faithfully  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
stamps,  and  that  he  would  send  them  back  to  London 
by  Captain  Davis  of  the  Edward.'' 

This  account  is  in  the  main  correct.  At  the  people's 
demand  the  governor  delivered  the  stamped  paper  to  the 
mayor  and  aldermen,  who  deposited  it  in  the  City  Hall, 
and  no  further  attempt  was  made  to  enforce  the  odious 
tax  in  New  York.  The  next  spring,  i  766,  a  new  min- 
istry, with  the  great  statesman  William  Pitt  at  its  head, 
came  into  power,  and  the  obnoxious  law  was  repealed, 


143 

although  Parliament  still  asserted  its  right  to  tax  the 
colonies. 

The  Stamp  Act  served  to  separate  men  into  two 
parties,  and  to  give  these  body  and  form.  From  this 
time  until  the  open  rupture  in  1775,  they  confronted  each 
other  in  the  city,  the  "  Tory,'  "*  Royalist,"  or  "  minis- 
terial "  party,  as  it  was  variously  called,  on  one  side,  and 
the  "  Whig,"  "  patriot,"  or  "  rebel  "  party  on  the  other. 
Each  party  had,  of  course,  its  leaders.  First  on  the  Roy- 
alist side  was  Lieutenant  Governor  Golden,  who,  until 
the  newly  appointed  governor,  Sir  Henry  Moore,  should 
arrive,  was  clothed  with  supreme  authority.  Golden  was 
eighty  years  of  age  at  this  time,  a  man  of  stanch  loy- 
alty, but  stubborn,  and  lacking  in  tact  and  discernment. 
Next  to  him  was  General  Thomas  Gage,  whom  the 
Whig  newspapers  called  irreverently  "  Tom  Gage,"  the 
commander  in  chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America, 
whose  large,  double  house  stood  on  the  present  site  of 
Nos.  67  and  69  Broadway.  There  was  Major  Thomas 
James,  commander  of  the  regiment  of  artillery  and  owner 
of  the  beautiful  country  seat  "  Vauxhall,"  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson  near  the  foot  of  the  present  Ghamhcrs 
Street,  and  greatly  disliked  by  the  patriots  for  his  arro- 
gance and  boastful  threats.  Other  leaders  were  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Auchmuty,  rector  of  Trinity  Church; 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Myles  Cooper,  president  of  King's  College, 
later  banished  for  his  Tory  sentiments  and  pamphlets; 
John  Antill,  postmaster ;  Daniel  Horsmanden,  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  province  ;  Samuel  Bayard,  assistant  secretary  ; 
Colonel  William  Bayard,  the  great  merchant;  John 
Harris   Cruger,   treasurer  of   the   city;    John    Griffiths, 


144 

master  of  the  port;  Thomas  Buchanan,  to  whom  later 
the  tea  ships  were  consigned ;  and  many  others,  office- 
holders or  those  who  received  in  some  way  largess  from 
the  king. 

The  patriots,  on  the  other  hand,  were  men  without 
office  or  the  hope  of  it,  since  their  very  acts  disbarred 
them.  Chief  among  them  in  boldness  and  energy  was 
Isaac  Sears,  a  merchant  in  the  West  India  trade. 
John  Lamb,  an  optician  by  trade,  who  later  became 
a  colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  was  equally  prom- 
inent. There  was  Alexander  McDougall,  a  Scotchman 
by  birth,  and  later  a  major  general  on  the  patriot  side ; 
John  Morin  Scott,  an  eminent  lawyer;  and  Marinus 
Willett,  who  had  marched  with  Abercrombie  to  Lake 
George  and  Ticonderoga,  with  Bradstreet  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac,  and  who  later  became  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  the 
New  York  line,  and  in  1807  mayor  of  New  York. 

Sir  Henry  Moore  arrived  toward  the  close  of  1765, 
and  at  once  ordered  a  change  of  policy.  He  was  a  very 
different  man  from  the  acting  governor.  Golden,  being 
bland,  persuasive,  soft- voiced,  shrewd,  and  tactful.  He 
"  came  as  a  friend  among  friends,"  he  said,  **  and  not  to  a 
revolted  province  ;  "  and  he  gave  orders  to  dismantle  the 
fort  and  scatter  the  soldiers,  while  he  set  about  healing 
the  wounds  his  predecessor  had  made.  Very  soon  a 
much  better  feeling  existed,  although  the  two  parties 
still  stood  to  their  arms  and  kept  a  wary  eye  upon  each 
other.  An  incident  that  occurred  during  the  summer 
of.  1 766  impressed  this  forcibly  on  the  governor's  mind. 

The  Sons  of  Liberty,  a  patriotic  society  of  the  day, 
erected    a  "  liberty  pole  "  on   June  4,  1766,  the  king's 


145 

birthday,  in  honor  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and 
further  celebrated  the  day  with  firing  of  cannon,  a  grand 
barbecue  on  the  common,  and  bonfires  in  the  evening. 
The  flag  that  was  later  flung  from  the  pole  bore  the 
words:  "The  King,  Pitt,  Liberty."     Now,  the  repeal  of 


the  Stamp  Act  had  greatly  angered  the  soldiers  and 
Tories,  who  regarded  it  as  a  victory  for  the  people, 
and  this  flag  flaunting  in  their  faces  irritated  them  beyond 
endurance ;  they  therefore  determined  to  destroy  it,  and 
did  so  on  the  loth  of  August  by  cutting  down  the  pole 
itself.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  raised  it  again,  and  again 
the  soldiers  leveled  it.  A  third  was  quickly  raised,  and 
so  close  a  watch  kept  upon  it  that  it  was  not  until  the 
night  of  the  i8th  of  March,  1767,  that  the  soldiers  suc- 
ceeded in  felling  it.  The  patriots  raised  a  fourth,  and 
this  time  secured  it  with  iron  bands.     The  soldiers  made 

TODD,    N.  Y.  — 10 


146 

two  desperate  attacks  upon  it,  but  were  twice  repulsed 
by  the  patriots,  until  at  length,  to  keep  the  peace.  Gov- 
ernor Moore  interposed,  and  ordered  the  soldiers  to 
cease  their  attempts.  The  latter  now  remained  quiet 
until  over  three  years  had  elapsed,  and  then  one  night 
sallied  out  against  the  pole,  and  cutting  it  down,  piled 
the  fragments  against  the  door  of  Montague's  Tavern, 
where  the  Sons  of  Liberty  held  their  meetings. 

This  was  adding  insult  to  injury.  The  next  day 
nearly  the  whole  city,  we  are  told,  met  on  the  common 
and  passed  resolutions  "  that  all  soldiers  below  the  rank 
of  orderly  who  appeared  armed  on  the  streets  should  be 
deemed  disturbers  of  the  peace,  and  be  liable  to  arrest, 
together  with  all  those  found  out  of  their  barracks  after 
roll  call." 

The  soldiers  met  this  by  writing  an  insulting  placard, 
which  they  posted  throughout  the  city.  Three  of  them 
were  caught  in  the  act  by  two  stalwart  Sons  of  Liberty, 
Isaac  Sears  and  Walter  Quackenbos,  who  attempted  to 
take  them  as  prisoners  to  the  mayor's  office,  but  were 
discovered  by  a  party  of  soldiers  from  the  lower  bar- 
racks, who  rushed  to  the  rescue.  But  the  Liberty  Boys 
were  also  on  the  alert,  and  hurrying  to  the  aid  of  their 
comrades,  armed  with  canes,  sticks,  stones,  bludgeons, 
and  knives,  a  brisk  battle  was  fought,  in  which  the  sol- 
diers were  worsted — not,  however,  until  one  patriot  had 
been  thrust  through  with  a  bayonet,  and  several  others 
wounded.  The  next  day,  the  soldiers,  smarting  under 
a  sense  of  defeat,  renewed  the  attack,  first  upon  a 
woman  who  was  going  to  market,  then  upon  a  party  of 
sailors  passing  through  the  streets,  one  of  whom,  an  old 


147 

man,  was  stabbed  with  a  bayonet  and  fell.  Being 
driven  off,  they  renewed  the  attack  in  the  afternoon,  and 
were  again  repulsed.  This  two  days'  battle  with  the 
military  began  January  i8,  1770.  The  Boston  massacre, 
in  which  it  has  been  said  the  first  blood  spilled  in  the 
Revolution  was  shed,  occurred  March  5,  1770,  or  nearly 
two  months  later. 

We  have  all  read  of  the  famous  **  Boston  Tea  Party  " 
of  December  16,  1773,  following  the  duty  laid  upon  tea 
by  Parliament.  New  York  had  hers  also,  although  it 
did  not  take  place  until  some  three  months  later,  for  the 
reason  that  the  tea  ship  destined  for  New  York  was 
about  three  months  overdue,  having  been  driven  out  of 
her  course  by  a  storm.  This  first  tea  ship,  the  Nancy, 
was  due  in  New  York  November  25,  1773,  and  the 
•'  Mohawks,"  an  order  similar  to  that  which  destroyed 
the  tea  in  Boston,  had  made  ready  to  receive  her;  at  the 
same  time  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  which,  under  Governor 
Moore's  pacific  reign,  had  nearly  died  out,  was  revived 
and  panoplied  for  the  fray. 

Sir  William  Tryon,  a  man  of  very  different  character, 
haughty,  cruel,  remorseless,  had  succeeded  Moore  in 
I  77 1,  and  by  his  words  and  manner  quickly  excited  a 
feeling  of  resistance  throughout  the  province.  At  last, 
on  April  18,  1774,  the  long-expected  tea  ship  was  re- 
ported, and  the  Mohawks  made  ready  to  receive  her. 
She  had  fallen  in  with  a  cyclone  on  the  voyage,  her  cap- 
tain, Lockyer,  reported,  had  lost  her  mizzenmast  and  an 
anchor,  sprung  her  maintopmast,  and  sustained  other 
injuries.     As  "  Holt's  Journal  "  of  April  21  said: 

"  Ever  since  her  departure  from  Europe  she  has  met 


148 

with  a  continued  succession  of  misfortunes,  having  on 
board  something  worse  than  a  Jonah,  which,  after  being 
long  tossed  on  the  tempestuous  ocean,  it  is  hoped,  Hke 
him,  will  be  thrown  back  upon  the  place  from  whence  it 
came.  May  it  preach  a  lesson  there  as  useful  as  the 
preaching  of  Jonah  was  to  the  Ninevites," 

In  this  spirit  the  people  received  the  tea  which  Par- 
liament had  decided  to  tax  in  order,  as  Lord  North 
observed,  ''  to  try  the  question  with  America." 

By  agreement  with  the  Sons  of  Liberty  the  New  York 
pilots  refused  to  bring  the  Nancy  farther  than  Sandy 
Hook.  There  she  was  boarded  by  a  committee  of  the 
Sons,  who  took  possession  of  her  boats,  that  her  crew 
might  not  escape,  and  thus  prevent  her  being  sent  back 
to  England,  which  had  been  determined  on.  Lockyer 
consented  to  go  back,  and  was  allowed  to  come  up  to  the 
city  and  see  his  consignee,  but  was  not  permitted  to  ap- 
proach the  customhouse,  lest  he  should  enter  his  vessel. 

Before  he  could  sail,  however,  the  London,  Captain 
Chambers,  was  reported.  She,  too,  was  boarded  at 
Sandy  Hook  by  the  Liberty  Boys;  but  as  her  captain 
positively  declared  he  had  no  tea  on  board,  he  was 
allowed  to  come  up  to  his  dock.  However,  the  com- 
mittee had  received  private  advices  from  Philadelphia 
that  tea  was  on  board,  and  as  the  London  swung  into 
her  berth,  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  whole  com- 
mittee boarded  her  and  ordered  the  hatches  opened, 
saying  they  were  certain  that  she  carried  tea,  and  as- 
suring Captain  Chambers  that  they  were  ready  to  open 
every  package  in  the  cargo  in  order  to  find  it ;  where- 
upon the  captain,  seeing  concealment  to  be  impossible, 


149 

confessed  that  he  had  eighteen  chests  on  board.  Upon 
this  the  committee  invited  him  to  the  great  public  room 
of  Fraunces's  Tavern  to  deliberate  on  the  matter.  They 
decided  "  to  communicate  the  whole  sense  of  the  mat- 
ter to  the  people,  who  were  convened  near  the  ship, 
which  was  accordingly  done."  The  Mohawks  were  pre- 
pared to  do  their  duty  under  cover  of  darkness,  but  the 


H 


•r  1 


5.  ,- 


M'l"  kX'^ 


g'p  if^'^^r. 


Fraunces's  Tavern. 


people  were  so  impatient  that  before  night  fell  a  num- 
ber of  them  boarded  the  ship,  took  out  the  tea  which 
was  at  hand,  broke  the  cases,  and  emptied  their  contents 
into  the  river,  without  doing  any  harm  to  the  ship  or 
cargo.  Several  persons  of  reputation  were  placed  below 
to  keep  tally,  and  about  the  companionway  to  prevent 
ill-disposed  persons  from  going  below  the  deck. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  people  all  dispersed  in  good  order, 
but  in  great  wrath  with  the  captain ;  and  it  was  not 
without  some  risk  of  his  life  that  he  escaped. 


150 

By  this  time  Captain  Lockyer  was  able  to  fix  the 
hour  of  departure  for  his  return  voyage;  the  people 
were  informed  of  it  and  invited  to  meet  on  the  dock 
whence  he  was  to  depart,  and  give  him  an  idea  of  the 
feeling  among  them  in  regard  to  the  taxed  tea.  He  was 
^to  leave  on  Saturday  morning  at  nine  o'clock.  "  The 
bells  will  give  notice  about  an  hour  before  he  embarks 
from  Murray's  Wharf,"  said  the  placards  that  were 
posted  all  over  the  city.  As  nine  o'clock  struck,  the 
committee  waited  on  him  at  his  lodgings  at  the  coffee- 
house, and  escorted  him  to  its  balcony,  that  he  might  see 
the  people  and  be  seen  by  them.  As  he  appeared,  a 
band  struck  up  *'  God  Save  the  King,"  and  the  people 
raised  a  great  shout.  Then  a  procession  was  formed 
with  the  captain  and  committee  at  its  head,  and  to  the 
sound  of  martial  music  moved  down  Wall  Street  to 
Murray's  Wharf,  where  a  small  sloop  lay  ready  to  take 
the  captain  to  his  ship  down  in  the  lower  bay.  The 
captain  and  the  committee  boarded  this  sloop.  Cap- 
tain Chambers,  finding  New  York  pretty  warm  for  him, 
also  took  passage.  Then  the  little  craft  spread  sail  and 
moved  down  harbor,  while  the  city  bells  rang  for  joy,  the 
shipr,  in  the  port  flaunted  their  gayest  colors,  the  much- 
fought-for  liberty  pole  on  the  common  flamed  with 
colors  to  its  peak,  and  cannon  planted  at  its  base  thun- 
dered forth  the  triumph  of  the  people. 


XII.    THE    BATTLE    OF    LONG    ISLAND. 

NEW  YORK  was  the  theater  of  some  important 
events  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  On  receiv- 
ing news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  four  days  after 
the  event,  Sunday,  April  23,  1775,  the  patriot  leaders 
warned  the  people,  '*  who  assembled,  and  not  being  able 
to  secure  the  key  of  the  arsenal  [in  the  City  Hall],  where 
the  colony's  arms  were  kept,  forced  open  the  door  and 
took  six  hundred  muskets,  with  bayonets  and  cartridge 
boxes  filled  with  ball  cartridges."  These  arms  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  more  active  citizens,  who  formed 
themselves  into  a  volunteer  corps  and  assumed  the 
government  of  the  city. 

Bodies  of  men  then  went  to  the  customhouse,  de- 
manded the  keys,  and  took  possession  of  the  public 
stores  contained  therein.  Next  the  patriots  turned 
their  attention  to  two  vessels  at  the  dock  about  to 
sail  for  Boston  with  supplies  for  General  Gage's  troops, 
Isaac  Sears  and  John  Lamb,  with  their  Liberty  Boys, 
boarding  them,  and  speedily  unloading  the  cargoes, 
valued  at  eighty  thousand  dollars.  No  resistance  was 
offered  by  the  garrison,  which  numbered  but  one  hun- 
dred regulars,  under  command  of  Major  Isaac  Ham- 
ilton. Governor  Tryon  was  in  England.  When  Mon- 
day came  and  the  merchants  and  artisans  arrived  at  their 

151 


152 

shops  and  stores,  they  found  the  regular  authority  over- 
turned and  the  city  in  the  hands  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty. 
All  business  was  stopped ;  bodies  of  armed  men  patrolled 
the  streets.  In  Paris,  anarchy  would  have  followed ; 
but  in  New  York  eight  days  after  the  overthrow  (May  i) 
the  people  quietly  elected  a  committee  of  one  hundred 
to  govern  them  until  the  Continental  Congress,  which 
was  soon  to  meet  in  Philadelphia,  should  constitute 
other  authority. 

There  was  a  great  demonstration  when,  on  May  7, 
1775,  the  delegates  from  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
passed  through  the  city  on  their  way  to  this  Continen- 
tal Congress  at  Philadelphia,  and  a  second,  on  June  25, 
1775,  when  Washington,  the  newly  appointed  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  army,  rode  through  on  his  way 
to  take  command  of  the  forces  investing  Boston.  By  a 
strange  coincidence  Governor  Tryon  arrived  the  same 
evening  from  England,  direct  from  personal  interviews 
with  the  king  and  ministry. 

Under  the  call  of  Congress  for  troops  four  regiments 
were  raised  in  New  York  alone.  A  few  small  skir- 
mishes occurred  between  them  and  the  Asia  and  other 
British  guard  ships  in  the  harbor,  but  New  York  saw  no 
actual  war  until  in  July,  1776,  Sir  William  Howe,  with 
a  large  fleet  and  an  army  of  veteran  troops,  arrived  from 
Halifax  to  invest  and  capture  the  city.  This  was  the 
same  general  and  army,  you  will  remember,  that  had 
been  driven  out  of  Boston  by  the  Continentals  the  spring 
before,  added  to  by  new  regiments  from  England. 
Washington  and  Putnam  had  been  in  New  York  all 
summer,  fortifying.     There  was  a  cordon  of  earthworks 


153 

across  the  lower  part  of  the  island,  and  there  were  bar- 
ricades in  the  streets,  and  strong  forts  on  Brooklyn  and 
Columbia  Heights,  on  the  Long  Island  shore.  The 
weakness  of  the  position  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  enemy, 
with  his  fleet,  could  ascend  either  the  East  River  or 
the  Hudson  and  cover  the  landing  of  his  army  with  its 
guns.  Howe,  however,  did  not  avail  himself  of  this 
advantage,  but  landed  his  army  at  various  points  along 
the  curving  shores  of.  Gravesend  Bay,  between  Coney 
Island  and  the  present  Fort  Hamilton,  and  attacked  the 
American  army,  which  Washington  had  advanced  to 
defend  Brooklyn  Heights. 

As  the  ground  fought  and  marched  over  in  the  battle 
that  ensued  is  all  within  the  Hmits  of  the  present  borough 
of  Brooklyn,  it  will  be  interesting  to  consider  that  battle 
in  detail.  No  doubt  you  have  ridden  on  your  wheels 
through  the  pleasant  shades  of  Prospect  Park,  or 
skimmed  over  the  smooth  surface  of  Flatbush  Avenue 
to  the  rural  hamlet  of  Flatlands,  or  taken  the  Ocean 
Parkway  path  to  the  sea,  or  Eighteenth  Avenue,  that 
runs  to  Bath  Beach,  or  Fort  Hamilton  Avenue,  skirting 
the  southern  border  of  Greenwood  Cemetery,  to  Fort 
Hamilton ;  again,  perhaps  you  have  ridden  out  by  the 
Eastern  Boulevard  and  the  roads  leading  from  it  east- 
ward to  the  old  Jamaica  Plank  Road,  or  from  the  ter- 
raced heights  of  Washington  Park  have  looked  down  on 
the  mighty  city  below, — if  you  have,  you  are  familiar 
with  the  battle  ground  of  August  2"j ,  1776. 

Let  us  see  first  where  the  American  army  was  posted. 
If  you  draw  a  line  straight  across  from  the  present  Navy 
Yard  to  Gowanus  Canal  the  region  west  and  southwest 


L.L.POATES, 


(154) 


155 

is  a  peninsula  ending  in  a  sharp  point  called  Red  Hook, 
Gowanus  Creek  and  marsh  inclosing  it  on  one  side,  and 
the  Bay  of  the  Wallabout  on  the  other.  The  country  then 
was  mostly  forest  and  farm.  Gowanus  Canal,  now  the 
center  of  business  and  trade,  was  then  a  sluggish  creek 
flowing  through  a  wide  marsh.  Columbia  and  Brooklyn 
Heights,  the  highest  points  in  this  peninsula,  commanded 
New  York,  and  on  them  General  Lee  and  Lord  Stirling 
had  erected  two  forts,  Stirling  and  the  Citadel.  When 
Putnam  came  he  decided  to  throw  a  chain  of  forts,  re- 
doubts, and  trenches  from  Gowanus  Creek  quite  across 
the  neck  to  the  Wallabout.  First,  and  nearest  Gowanus, 
was  Fort  Box,  on  or  near  the  present  line  of  Pacific  Street, 
a  short  distance  above  Bond.      Next,  and  three  hundred 


Washington  Park  (Site  of  Fort  Putnam). 


156 

yards  west,  was  Fort  Greene,  star-shaped,  rriounting  six 
guns,  and  lying  between  the  present  State  and  Scher- 
merhorn  streets.  Still  farther  to  the  left  was  the  *'  oblong 
redoubt,"  on  the  corner  of  the  present  De  Kalb  and 
Hudson  avenues.  Fort  Putnam,  star-shaped,  mount- 
ing five  guns,  came  next,  its  site  still  preserved  in  beau- 
tiful Washington  Park.  Below  it,  near  the  bay,  was 
the  "  redoubt  on  the  left,"  standing  in  the  middle  of  the 
present  Cumberland  Street,  between  Willoughby  Street 
and  Myrtle  Avenue. 

If  we  take  our  station  on  the  water  tower  near  the  main 
entrance  to  Prospect  Park  we  can  get  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  whole  battle  ground.  Before  us,  on  the  south, 
lies  the  "  great  plain,"  which  in  1776  was  covered  with 
farm  and  forest,  with  three  smiling  villages  on  its  bosom, 
— New  Utrecht,  Gravesend,  and  Flatbush, — whose  po- 
sition you  can  readily  find  on  the  map.  The  chain  of 
hills,  then  called  the  Heights  of  Guana,  which  runs 
from  the  bay  shore  to  East  New  York  through  Green- 
wood Cemetery  and  Prospect  Park,  was  covered  with 
dense  forest  and  scrub  impassable  to  an  army.  South 
Brooklyn  was  a  swamp.  Gowanus  Creek  showed  great 
mills  whose  wheels  were  moved  by  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
the  tides.  Second,  Third,  and  Fourth  avenues  were  a 
morass,  as  was  the  whole  region  in  that  neighborhood, 
now  covered  with  blocks  of  buildings. 

At  the  north  was  the  King's  Highway,  winding  up  the 
hill  from  Fulton  Ferry,  passing  the  Brooklyn  church  and 
hamlet,  and  continuing  on,  skirting  the  northern  base  of 
the  hills,  to  Bedford  and  Jamaica.  This  road  threw  off 
branches  leading  to  the  villages  in  the  plain — first,  the 


157 

"  Coast  Road,"  which  skirted  the  shore  quite  to  the 
Narrows ;  second,  the  road  to  Flatbush,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  beyond  the  American  works ;  and,  third,  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  farther  on,  the  road  from  Bedford  to 
Flatbush.  These  roads  reached  the  plain  by  gaps  in 
the  Heights  of  Guana,  and  were  the  only  means  by 
which  an  enemy  in  the  plain  could  reach  the  American 
line,  except  that  at  the  extreme  left,  four  miles  away, 
where  the  King's  Highway  passed  through  the  range, 
was  Jamaica  Pass,  at  the  present  entrance  to  the  Ceme- 
tery of  the  Evergreens. 

On  the  Coast  Road,  hard  by  the  Red  Lion  Tavern,  a 
narrow  lane  called  Martense  Lane  branched  off  to  the  left, 
and  skirting  the  southern  boundary  line  of  the  present 
Greenwood,  connected  with  the  roads  on  the  plain. 
The  Heights  of  Guana  formed  the  American  outer  line 
of  defense  or  skirmish  line.  The  only  one  of  the  gaps 
defended  by  fieldworks  was  the  Flatbush  Pass,  within 
the  present  limits  of  Prospect  Park.  This  pass  was  de- 
fended by  two  batteries — a  crescent-shaped  redoubt  that 
extended  across  the  main  street  of  Flatbush  just  within 
the  village,  and  a  smaller  one  at  Valley  Grove  to  guard 
the  Port  Road,  which  ran  down  to  the  East  River  along 
the  present  line  of  First  Street. 

Swarming  like  ants  upon  these  fortifications,  march- 
ing through  the  roads,  drilling  on  parade,  had  been  all 
summer  perhaps  the  oddest,  most  incongruous  army 
ever  recruited  since  Falstaff's  day.  There  were  the 
green  hunting  shirts  and  leggings  of  the  Marylanders,  the 
dark-blue  coats  with  red  facings  of  the  Delaware  militia, 
the  tow  frocks  and  tarnished  scarlet  regimentals  of  the 


158 

Connecticut  troops.  There  were  the  New  Jersey  rifle- 
men, some  in  short  red  coats  and  striped  trousers,  some 
in  blue  coats,  with  leathern  breeches  ending  in  blue  yarn 
stockings,  and  heavy  shoes  with  brass  buckles.  Here 
was  a  Pennsylvania  regiment  in  variegated  costume : 
one  company  clad  in  brown  coats  faced  with  white  and 
adorned  with  huge  metal  buttons  ;  another  showing  blue 
coats  faced  with  red  ;  a  third,  brown  coats  faced  with  buff. 
Many  from  the  backwoods  wore  fringed  hunting  shirts 
and  leggings.  Some  marched  and  fought  in  their  shirt 
sleeves. 

The  Virginians  aroused  envy  by  the  superior  quality 
of  their  uniform — white  frocks  adorned  with  ruffles  at 
neck,  wrists,  and  elbows,  black,  broad-brimmed  slouch 
hats,  black  stocks,  and  hair  in  long  queues.  They  were 
called  the  dandies  of  the  army. 

The  arms  of  this  impromptu  host  were  quite  as  diverse 
and  incongruous  as  its  uniforms.  There, were  the  shot- 
gun and  old  "king's  arm"  of  the  Puritans,  the  long 
"  goose  gun  "  of  the  New  York  Dutchmen,  the  musket 
of  the  Pennsylvanians,  the  deer-slaying  rifles  of  the  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  riflemen.  Very  few  of 
them  were  furnished  with  bayonets  or  sufficient  ammu- 
nition. 

The  total  number  of  available  men  at  Washington's 
command  at  this  crisis  was  nineteen  thousand,  organized 
in  five  divisions,  the  division  commanders  being  Put- 
nam, Heath,  Spencer,  Sullivan,  and  Greene,  with  Knox 
commanding  the  artillery.  Save  Putnam  and  Spencer, 
these  commanders  had  had  very  little  military  training; 
some   of  the   subordinate    officers   were   mere    boys   in 


159 

years.  Alexander  Hamilton,  later  the  greatest  states- 
man of  his  time,  who  commanded  a  battery  in  Knox's 
division,  was  but  nineteen.  Aaron  Burr,  with  whom 
his  fate  was  later  so  interwoven,  an  aide  on  General 
Putnam's  staff,  was  a  youth  of  twenty,  while  Nicholas 
Fish,  Brigadier  General  Scott's  brigade  major,  was  but 
eighteen. 

A  gallant  and  effective  arm  of  the  patriot  force  should 
be  mentioned — the  motley  fleet  of  swift  schooners, 
sloops,  periaguas,  row  galleys,  and  whaleboats,  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Benjamin  Tupper,  which 
patrolled  the  harbor,  rivers,  and  sound,  and  picked  up 
deserters,  spies,  provision  boats,  and  news  of  the  enemy's 
movemerits  with  the  greatest  dispatch  and  impartiality. 

When  we  consider  the  opposing  army  we  wonder  at 
the  temerity  of  the  patriots  in  attempting  to  oppose  it. 
This  army  was  composed  mainly  of  regular  soldiers — 
men  trained  to  the  profession  of  arms,  veterans  who  had 
been  under  fire.  There  was  Gage's  Boston  garrison, 
seasoned  veterans  from  the  West  Indies,  the  Peninsula, 
Gibraltar,  and  other  strongholds,  Scotch  who  had  won 
renown  in  a  seven  years'  war,  and  Hessians  whose  trade 
it  was  to  fight.  Then  the  officers  were  men  trained  in 
the  best  military  schools  of  Europe,  lieutenant  generals, 
major  generals,  brigadier  generals — Howe  and  Clinton 
and  Percy  and  Cornwallis,  Mathews,  Pigot,  Grant, 
Robertson,  Jones,  Vaughan,  Agnew,  Leslie,  Cleveland, 
Smith,  and  Erskine  ;  in  numbers  there  were  twenty-three 
thousand  Englishmen  and  eight  thousand  Hessians, 
thirty-one  thousand  men  against  the  patriots'  nineteen 
thousand ;  and  besides  this,  a  fleet  of  four  hundred  war 


i6o 

ships  and  transports,  among  the  former  twenty  frigates 
and  ten  ships  of  the  Hne. 

It  was  on  the  29th  of  June  that  Lord  Howe  arrived. 
Nine  days  after,  July  8,  he  threw  nine  thousand  men 
ashore  and  occupied  Staten  Island.  A  few  days  later 
his  brother,  Admiral  Howe,  arrived  with  the  rest  of  his 
forces — English  regiments  just  sent  out,  and  the  Hes- 
sians whom  King  George  had  hired  from  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  and  other  petty  German  rulers. 

On  the  1 2th  of  July  the  British  frigates  Rose  and 
Phoenix  ran  past  the  batteries,  and  sailed  up  the  Hud- 
son as  farasHaverstraw,  to  encourage  the  Tories  of  West- 
chester County  and  open  communication  with  General 
Carleton,  who  was  marching  south  from  Canada  by  way 
of  Lake  Champlain  to  attack  the  Americans  in  the  rear. 

Lord  Howe  was  a  just  and  humane  man,  whose  sym- 
pathies were  with  the  Americans.  He  had  been  told 
by  King  George  to  offer  pardon  to  all  "  rebels,"  as  he 
termed  them,  who  would  submit.  Howe,  therefore, 
before  offering  battle,  desired  to  meet  the  leaders  and 
confer  with  them.  Accordingly,  on  July  14,  he  sent 
an  aide  in  a  barge,  with  a  letter  addressed  to  "  Mr. 
Washington."  Tupper's  alert  whaleboats  captured  the 
barge  in  midharbor,  and  held  it  while  they  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  headquarters  to  know  if  Washington  would 
receive  it.  In  reply  General  Knox  and  Colonel  Reed, 
Washington's  adjutant  general,  came  down  to  confer 
with  the  officer. 

He  received  them  courteously.  '*  I  have  a  letter," 
said  he,  "for  Mr.  Washington."  *' We  have  no  per- 
son of  that  name  in  our  army,"  replied  Colonel  Reed. 


i6i 

"Will  you  not  look  at  the  address?"  persisted  the 
officer.  "  No,  sir,"  replied  Reed  ;  "  I  cannot  receive  that 
letter."  "  I  am  sorry,"  said  the  envoy,  and  bowing, 
returned  to  the  fleet. 

Something  more  than  personal  vanity  or  military 
etiquette  was  involved  here.  For  Howe  to  have  ad- 
dressed Washington  as  **  General "  would  have  been  to 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
which  had  created  him  one.  But  this  authority  King 
George  denied.  According  to  his  view,  the  Americans 
were  simply  rebellious  subjects,  liable  by  military  usage 
and  the  law  of  nations  to  be  summarily  executed  for 
treason  if  taken  in  arms. 

For  Washington,  on  the  other  hand,  to  have  re- 
ceived the  letter  would  have  been  to  admit  the  king's 
contention. 

A  personal  interview  between  Washington  and  Colo- 
nel Patterson,  representing  General  Howe,  was  later 
arranged  at  the  Kennedy  mansion. 

Colonel  Patterson  apologized  for  the  address  on  the 
former  letter,  and  produced  another  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, **  George  Washington,  Esq.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,"  which, 
as  it  implied  everything,  General  Howe  hoped  would  be 
satisfactory.  "  True,"  replied  Washington,  **  but  it  also 
implies  anything;  "  and  he  declined  to  receive  any  letter 
not  bearing  his  proper  title.  Colonel  Patterson  then 
said  that  the  king  desired  to  conciliate  his  American 
subjects  and  had  given  Lord  Howe  and  his  brother, 
Admiral  Howe,  power  to  offer  pardon  to  all  who  would 
lay  down  their  arms. 

To  this  Washington  replied  that  the  Americans,  hav- 

TODD,    N.  Y.  —  1 1 


1 62 

ing  done  no  wrong,  could  accept  no  pardons.  '*  They 
had  but  taken  up  arms  to  maintain  their  rights  as  Eng- 
lishmen." 

Finding  his  offers  of  peace  spurned,  Howe  now  pro- 
ceeded to  move  against  the  American  army  by  way  of 
Long  Island,  although  a  large  force  was  sent  to  attack 
Bergen,  Elizabethport,  and  Perth  Amboy,  on  the  New 
Jersey  shore.  Twenty-four  thousand  men  were  detailed 
for  the  attack  on  Long  Island. 

On  the  night  of  August  22,  1776,  the  advance  guard 
of  this  force  landed  on  the  shores  of  Gravesend  Bay, 
between  the  present  village  of  Bath  Beach  and  Coney 
Island.  At  nine  next  morning  four  thousand  light  in- 
fantry crossed  in  flatboats  from  Staten  Island,  convoyed 
by  the  Rainboiv  and  other  men-of-war,  and  landed  at 
what  is  now  Fort  Hamilton.  An  hour  later  a  second 
division,  of  British  and  Hessians,  entered  boats,  and  row- 
ing in  regular  ranks,  landed  at  the  bend  of  Gravesend 
Bay,  at  or  near  Bath  Beach.  Fifteen  thousand  men  were 
ashore  by  noon,  and  spreading  over  Gravesend  and  New 
Utrecht  plains  under  cover  of  the  guns  of  the  fleet. 

Let  us  cross  the  East  River  with  this  boatload  of 
soldiers  which  Washington  is  hurrying  over  to  rcenforce 
his  brave  fellows  on  the  heights.  The  only  means  of 
propelling  boats  at  this  time,  you  remember,  are  oars 
and  sails.  Brooklyn  Heights  rise  before  us  in  their 
natural  outlines,  uncrowned  by  buildings.  There  is  a 
village  at  the  ferry,  there  are  a  few  farmhouses  on  the 
slopes,  and  the  two  noble  mansions  of  Phillip  and 
Robert  Livingston  on  Columbia  Heights,  but  neither 
city  nor  town. 


163 

We  will  resume  our  stand  on  Reservoir  Hill  and  view 
the  position  of  the  contending  armies.  The  British 
hold  the  plain  as  far  east  as  Flatbush  and  Flatlands. 
There  are  twenty -one  thousand  men  there,  for  a  third 
tlivision  of  six  thousand  men  has  reenforced  the  fifteen 
thousand  men  that  first  landed.  The  Hessians  and  re- 
serves are  massed  yonder  at  Flatbush,  facing  the  pass, 
the  main  body,  under  Clinton  and  Percy,  at  Flatlands, 
two  miles  south,  while  Grant,  with  two  brigades  at  Bath 
and  New  Utrecht,  holds  the  Coast  Road.  The  ex- 
treme right  of  the  Americans,  covering  New  Utrecht 
and  the  Martense  Lane,  is  held  by  General  Lord  StirHng 
with  his  riflemen  and  Parsons's  Connecticut  troops.  Gen- 
eral Sullivan's  division  holds  the  center  and  extreme 
right,  his  regiments  being  stretched  along  the  brow  of 
the  range  for  two  miles  on  each  side  of  the  Flatbush 
Pass,  and  holding  it.  Meeting  them  on  their  left.  Colo- 
nel Miles's  Pennsylvania  riflemen  and  some  Connecticut 
levies  take  up  the  line  and  carry  it  east  beyond  Bedford 
Pass,  but  stop  short  of  Jamaica  Pass,  leaving  the  latter 
unguarded — a  grave  mistake,  by  some  charged  to  Gen- 
eral Sullivan  and  by  others  to  General  Putnam.  The 
whole  number  of  American  troops  on  this  their  outer 
line  does  not  exceed  twenty-eight  hundred  men,  and  in 
all  there  are  barely  eight  thousand  men,  Washington 
not  daring  to  leave  his  defenses  on  the  New  York  side 
unmanned. 

General  Israel  Putnam  succeeded  General  Sullivan 
as  commander  in  chief  the  day  before,  Washington 
remaining  in  New  York.  Putnam  was  a  veteran  of  the 
F'rench  and  Indian  wars,  a  good  fighter  and  strict  dis- 


1 64 

ciplinarian,  who  had  done  excellent  service  at  Bunker 
Hill  a  few  months  before.  He,  with  the  main  body, 
held  the  inner  or  fortified  line,  whence  it  was  thought  he 
could  quickly  send  aid  to  any  part  of  the  outer  line  when 
hard  pressed. 

The  Tories  promptly  conveyed  to  Howe  news  that  the 
Jamaica  Pass  had  been  left  unguarded  and  was  patrolled 
only  by  a  few  vedettes,  and  the  latter's  plan  of  battle  was 
quickly  formed,  viz.,  to  gain  this  pass  quietly,  march 
through  it,  turn  the  American  left  and  gain  the  rear 
undetected,  in  which  event  the  battle  would  be  won. 
Grant,  accordingly,  was  given  orders  to  make  a  feint  on 
Stirling  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  at  the  Red  Lion 
Tavern,  a  famous  hostelry  of  that  day,  standing  at  the 
point  where  Martense  Lane  left  the  Coast  Road,  but  by 
no  means  to  bring  on  a  serious  battle  until  he  should 
hear  Clinton's  guns  in  the  American  rear.  De  Heister 
and  Knyphausen,  commanding  the  Hessians,  were  given 
orders  to  attack  Flatbush  Pass  at  the  same  time,  while 
Clinton  and  Percy  were  to  steal  around  the  American 
left  with  the  entire  right  wing,  gain  Jamaica  Pass,  and 
double  up  the  outer  line  on  itself  and  the  main  body. 
This  plan  was  carried  out  with  perfect  success. 

At  evening  gun  fire  on  the  night  of  the  26th  the  troops 
of  Clinton,  Percy,  and  Cornwallis  left  their  camp  at 
Flatlands,  with  the  fires  still  burning  in  order  to  deceive 
the  Americans,  and  began  their  march  **  across  the 
country  through  the  new  lots  toward  Jamaica  Pass,"  as 
Lord  Howe  wrote  in  his  report. 

At  the  front  were  three  Flatbush  Tories  as  guides; 
then  came  Clinton  with  the  light  dragoons  and  a  bri- 


165 

gade  of  light  infantry  ;  then  Cornwallis  and  the  reserves, 
with  fourteen  pieces  of  hght  artillery  ;  then  Lords  Howe 
and  Percy.  This  force  toiled  on  in  the  darkness  along 
the  sandy  road  from  Flatlands  as  far  as  Shoemakers 
Creek,  and  then,  the  better  to  escape  detection,  crossed 
over  through  the  fields  to  the  Jamaica  Road,  striking 
it  at  William  Howard's  Halfway  House,  a  few  yards 
southeast  of  the  pass. 

Leaving  his  main  army  in  the  fields,  Howe,  with  his 
aids  and  a  small  bodyguard,  went  forward,  and  the 
former,  with  a  civilian's  hat  on  and  a  camlet  cloak  drawn 
over  his  uniform,  entered  the  tavern  and  ordered  a  drink. 

**  Have  you  joined  the  association?  "  he  asked  of  the 
tavernkeeper. 

**  Yes,"  replied  Howard. 

"  That's  all  very  well ;  stick  to  your  colors ;  but  now 
you  are  my  prisoner  and  must  lead  me  across  these 
hills,  out  of  the  way  of  the  rebels,  the  nearest  way  to 
Gowanus,"  was  the  reply. 

Howard  led  them  around  the  pass  by  a  bridle  path 
that  traversed  w^hat  is  now  Evergreen  Cemetery,  and 
gained  the  Jamaica  Road  in  the  rear  of  the  pass. 
They  found  the  pass  unguarded,  and  at  once  sent  word 
to  Clinton  to  hurry  forward  with  the  main  body,  which 
had  been  left  in  the  fields,  and  occupy  it. 

But  where  was  the  vedette  that  had  been  set  to  patrol 
the  pass?  On  this  particular  night  it  consisted  of  five 
young  American  officers  of  undoubted  bravery  and 
patriotism,  who  had  volunteered  for  the  perilous  work 
— Van  Wagener  (one  of  the  heroes  of  Quebec),  Troup, 
Dunscomb,    Hoogland,   and    Gilliland.       Their   orders 


1 66 

were  to  patrol  the  pass  and  send  news  of  the  advance 
of  the  foe.  But  they  erred  from  excess  of  zeal:  not 
dreaming  that  the  enemy  would  advance  through  the 
fields,  they  went  forward  on  the  road,  the  quicker  to 
discover  a  possible  advance,  and  the  British  slipped  in 
between  and  captured  them. 

The  young  men  were  at  once  hurried  into  the  pres- 
ence of  Clinton,  who  questioned  them  closely  as  to  the 
troops,  the  forts,  and  the  positions  of  tlie  Americans; 
but  they  refused  to  answer. 

"  Under  other  circumstances,"  said  Dunscomb,  "  you 
would  not  dare  insult  us  in  this  manner." 

Clinton,  angered,  called  him  an  "  impudent  rebel," 
and  threatened  to  hang  him. 

**  No,  you  will  not,"  replied  Dunscomb,  **  for  Wash- 
ington can  hang  man  for  man." 

The  army  now  took  breakfast  and  then  hurried  on 
down  the  King's  Highway  to  Bedford,  where  they  ar- 
rived about  half-past  eight  in  the  morning.  At  this 
point  they  were  well  in  the  rear  of  the  American  outer 
line,  about  half  a  mile  distant  from  it,  and  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  Putnam's  position.  They  could  hear  the 
thunder  of  De  Heister's  guns,  now  hotly  engaged  with 
Sullivan  for  possession  of  the  Flatbush  Pass. 

In  a  short  time  they  w^ere  discovered  by  Miles,  who 
now  found  himself  attacked  by  them  in  the  rear,  while 
cannonading  down  near  the  Red  Lion  Tavern  told  that 
Grant  had  obeyed  orders  and  was  engaging  Stirling  in 
that  quarter. 

The  patriots  saw  that  they  were  caught  in  a  trap, 
between  two  fires,  and  cut  off  from  their  supports.      A 


16; 

terrible  hand-to-hand  conflict  of  two  hours  now  ensued 
in  the  woods  and  thickets,  between  Miles's  and  Sullivan's 
men  on  the  one  side  and  the  British  and  Hessians,  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  penned  them  up  between  them  — 
a  fight  with  bayonet  and  sword  and  clubbed  musket 
and  branches  rent  from  the  trees;  a  struggle  to  the 
death,  no  quarter  being  asked  or  given.  No  supports 
were  sent  them  by  Putnam,  for  he  knew  not  where  to 
send,  his  whole  line  being  engaged.  The  unequal  com- 
bat could  not  long  continue,  however,  and  about  noon 
Sullivan's  and  Miles's  men  broke  and  fled  into  the  woods. 
A  few  gained  the  fortified  line,  but  most  of  them  were 
killed  or  taken  prisoners. 

Meantime  the  honors  of  the  day  had  been  won  by 
Stirling,  Parsons,  and  the  sturdy  troops  of  the  Connect- 
icut, Delaware,  and  Maryland  lines. 

On  the  night  before  the  attack,  August  26,  Grant 
advanced  by  both  the  Coast  Road  and  Martense  Lane  as 
ordered,  and  by  midnight  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  Red 
Lion  Tavern,  where  he  came  upon  a  guard  of  Ameri- 
cans under  Major  Bird,  who  at  once  sent  word  to  Put- 
nam. The  latter  ordered  Stirling  to  check  them,  and 
that  general,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  Haslet's 
Delaware  battalion  and  Smallwood's  Maryland  regiment, 
hurried  to  the  spot,  closely  followed  by  General  Parsons, 
with  Hunt's  Connecticut  regiment  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  A  full  half  mile  this  side  of  the  Red  Lion 
Tavern  they  met  Colonel  Atlee's  regiment  retiring  before 
the  British  column,  whose  front  could  be  seen  in  the  dim 
light  of  the  dawn,  a  little  in  advance  of  the  present  en- 
trance to  Greenwood,     Grant  now  formed  line  of  battle 


1 68 

across  the  Coast  Road  (in  the  vicinity  of  the  present 
Thirty-eighth  and  Thirty-ninth  streets,  between  Second 
and  Third  avenues),  from  the  marsh  on  the  east  to  the 
crest  of  the  hills  that  now  form  the  western  boundary  of 
Greenwood. 

StirHng  took  post  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills  between 
Eighteenth  and  Twentieth  streets,  a  little  to  the  north- 
west of  the  present  Battle  Hill  in  Greenwood,  a  com- 
pany of  riflemen  being  posted  on  the  edge  of  the  woods 
and  along  a  ledge  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  A  number  of 
the  latter  climbed  the  trees,  and  from  that  coign  of  van- 
tage picked  off  the  British  officers  as  they  advanced.  One 
huge  Marylander  was  seen  to  kill  Major  Grant  and  another 
officer  in  this  way,  when  he  was  discovered,  and  a  whole 
platoon  was  ordered  to  advance  and  fire  into  the  tree  ;  at 
its  fire  he  fell  to  the  ground,  pierced  by  a  dozen  bullets. 

A  Maryland  regiment  was  posted  on  a  low,  wooded 
hill  beside  the  Coast  Road,  at  about  the  foot  of  the  pres- 
ent Twenty-third  Street.  Here,  awaiting  attack,  Stirling 
made  a  stirring  address  to  his  troops,  reminding  them 
that  a  few  months  before  he  had  heard  this  same 
Major  Grant  openly  boast  in  the  British  Parliament  that 
the  Americans  could  not  fight,  and  that  with  five  thou- 
sand men  *'  he  could  march  from  one  end  of  the  continent 
to  the  other." 

Poinding  to  the  head  of  Gravesend  Bay,  he  continued  : 
"  Grant  may  have  his  five  thousand  men  now ;  we  are 
not  so  many,  but  I  think  we  are  enough  to  prevent  his" 
getting  farther  than  that  mill  pond." 

In  reality  Grant  had  seven  thousand  men,  Stirling 
sixteen  hundred. 


1 69 

For  two  hours  the  grim  lines  faced  each  other,  Grant, 
as  we  have  seen,  having  positive  orders  not  to  force  a 
battle  until  he  heard  the  guns  of  the  flanking  column  in 
the  American  rear. 

About  ten  he  heard  them,  and  began  pushing  Stirling 
harder..  Eleven  o'clock,  half-past  eleven,  came,  and 
still  StirHng  had  no  orders  to  retreat,  although  he 
judged  from  the  firing  that  the  enemy  was  rapidly  gain- 
ing his  rear.  This  was  the  fact.  Clinton  and  the 
Hessians  together,  as  we  have  seen,  had  beaten  back 
Sullivan  and  Miles,  gained  the  passes,  and  by  noon  had 
carried  the  pursuit  up  to  the  walls  of  Fort  Putnam, 
which  they  could  have  carried  by  assault,  no  doubt,  had 
they  attempted  it.  The  men  were  eager  for  it,  but 
Howe  would  not  consent. 

Meantime  Cornwallis,  with  a  heavy  column,  had  been 
detached,  and  was  pushing  down  the  Port  Road  toward 
the  East  River,  at  first  on  the  left  and  then  in  the  rear 
of  Stirling's  long,  thin  line. 

Washington  remained  in  New  York  until  he  saw 
that  the  city  was  not  to  be  attacked,  then  crossed 
to  Brooklyn,  and  from  the  heights  saw  that  Stirling 
had  been  surrounded  and  was  in  danger  of  being  cut 
to  pieces.  He  could  not  send  relief  without  weak- 
ening his  main  line,  and  with  anxiety  that  may  be  imag- 
ined watched  that  brave  leader  extricate  himself.  The 
latter  saw  that  his  only  hope  of  escape  was  to  drive 
Cornwallis's  advance  back  along  the  Port  Road  toward 
Flatbush,  until  he  could  get  between  it  and  Fort  Box, 
and  escape  under  cover  of  its  guns  across  Brower's  mill- 
dam.    Therefore,  leaving  his  main  body,  under  Parsons, 


170 

fiercely  engaged  with  Grant,  he  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  Smallwood's  riflemen,  and  moved  along  the 
Gowanus  Road  in  the  face  of  a  hail  of  fire  from  can- 
non, rifles,  and  muskets,  pushing  the  enemy  back  till 
they  rallied  and  stood  firm  under  cover  of  the  old  stone 
Cortelyou  house,  the  same  which  had  sheltered  the 
Labadist  travelers  over  a  hundred  years  before.  This 
they  would  have  carried,  no  doubt,  had  not  the  British 
wheeled  two  guns  into  position  before  them  and  mowed 
the  attacking  column  down  with  grape  and  canister. 
Three  times  the  brave  fellows  charged  the  house,  once 
driving  the  gunners  from  their  pieces  within  its  shadow. 

"  Good  God!  "  cried  Washington,  watching  from  his 
hilltop.      "What  brave  fellows  I  must  this  day  lose!" 

The  odds  were  too  great,  however,  and  at  last  the 
depleted  column  took  refuge  in  a  cornfield,  where  some 
surrendered,  some  were  bayoneted,  and  a  few  made 
their  escape  by  swimming  Gowanus  Creek.  Stirling 
fled  over  the  hills  and  yielded  up  his  sword  to  De  Heis- 
ter,  the  Hessian  commander,  scorning  to  deliver  it  to  the 
British.  Meantime  Parsons,  on  Battle  Hill,  had  made  a 
gallant  stand,  but  his  position  was  at  last  carried,  and 
many  of  his  men  captured.  Some  of  them  escaped 
across  the  marsh.  He  succeeded  in  hiding  himself  in  a 
swamp,  and  thence  escaped  to  the  American  lines.  This 
ended  the  battle  of  Brooklyn  Heights.  Of  the  five 
thousand  Americans  engaged,  nearly  half  were  killed, 
wounded,  or  prisoners. 

Howe  did  not  at  once  attack  the  line  of  forts,  though 
they  were  defended  now  by  scarcely  three  thousand 
men.     His  artillery  was  not  up,  he  lacked  axes  for  cut- 


ting  palisades,  scaling  ladders  and  the  like,  so  he  sat 
down  for  a  siege  by  regular  approaches. 

You  may  be  sure  that  it  was  an  anxious  time  for 
Washington  and  the  other  patriot  leaders.  More  troops 
were  ordered  over  from  New  York.  Fortunately,  next 
day  it  rained  heavily,  and  the  British  contented  them- 
selves with  a  brisk  cannonade  and  with  sending  out 
skirmishing  parties.  At  evening  they  broke  ground  for 
intrenchments  within  five  hundred  yards  of  the  Ameri- 
can line,  and  that  night  threw  up  a  redoubt  just  east  of 
Fort  Putnam,  from  which  they  opened  fire  on  that  fort. 

Next  day,  the  29th,  a  dense  fog  hung  over  water  and 
heights,  veiling  everything.  News  soon  came  that  part 
of  the  British  fleet  had  passed  round  the  island  and  was 
now  in  Flushing  Bay,  on  the  north  shore.  This  led 
Washington  at  five  o'clock  to  call  a  council  of  his  offi- 
cers to  decide  whether  to  retreat  or  to  fight.  They 
decided  to  retreat. 

The  American  army  was  in  evil  plight.  If  the 
enemy's  fleet  should  sail  up  and  hold  the  East  River  it 
would  cut  off  its  line  of  retreat.  (The  fleet  would  have 
done  this  on  the  battle  day,  we  know  now,  but  for  lack 
of  a  wind.)  The  loss  in  men  and  officers  on  the  27th 
had  disorganized  the  army.  The  men  were  wearied 
with  constant  watching  and  alarms.  Their  ammunition 
had  been  largely  spoiled  by  the  incessant  rains  of  the 
last  two  days.  Lastly,  Howe  was  raising  his  trenches 
against  them  and  would  soon  order  an  assault. 

All  through  that  eventful  day  Washington  had  been 
making  secret  preparations  for  a  retreat.  He  had  sent 
Colonel  Trumbull  to  Assistant  Quartermaster  Hughes  in 


173 

New  York,  with  orders  to  impress  at  once  Craft  of  every 
description,  from  Spuyten  Duy vil  to  Hell  Gate,  and  have 
them  in  the  **  east  harbor  "  by  dark.  Orders  were  sent 
also  to  General  Heath,  commanding  at  Kingsbridge,  to 
seize  all  boats  in  his  district  and  man  them  with  the 
Salem  and  Marblehead  fishermen  of  his  command.  It 
was  given  out  that  the  boats  would  be  used  to  ferry 
over  certain  New  Jersey  troops  who  were  to  relieve 
those  on  the  heights.  In  the  general  orders  to  the 
army  issued  at  the  same  time  a  similar  fiction  was  em- 
ployed, a  retreat  not  being  mentioned.  The  regiments 
were  to  be  relieved  by  fresh  New  Jersey  militia,  and 
were  commanded  to  be  in  marching  order  by  nightfall, 
knapsack  on  back,  and  muskets  and  camp  equipage  in 
hand. 

By  dark  a  nondescript  fleet  had  been  collected  at  the 
Fulton  Ferry  dock — sloops,  sailboats,  galleys,  periaguas, 
scows,  rowboats,  whaleboats — everything  afloat,  and 
with  the  hardy  fishermen  of  Cape  Ann  and  Cape  Cod 
in  command  of  them.  In  this  retreat  Washington  de- 
ceived the  British  as  completely  as  the  latter  had  de- 
ceived him  on  the  morning  of  the  27th.  Leaving  their 
camp  fires  brightly  burning,  silently  as  ghosts  the  grim 
ranks  marched  to  the  ferry  through  mud  and  darkness, 
Hitchcock's  Rhode  Islanders  first,  and  then  regiment 
after  regiment,  until  by  dawn  all  were  across  the  river 
except  General  Mifflin's  six  regiments,  which  had  been 
left  to  hold  the  redoubts. 

Through  all  the  hours  of  that  long,  dark  night  detec- 
tion would  have  meant  ruin.  But  how  were  the  gallant 
Mifflin  and  his  men  to  be  drawn  off  without  attracting 


173 

attention  ?  The  same  kind  Providence  which,  by  with- 
holding the  wind,  had  prevented  the  enemy's  frigates 
from  ascending  and  holding  the  river,  again  interposed. 
Heavy  masses  of  dense  fog  rolled  up  from  the  bay  and 
covered  the  frowning  heights  with  a  gray  curtain. 
Mifflin  retired  under  its  cover.  As  the  last  outpost 
stole  away  it  heard  the  sound  of  pickax  and  shovel 
busily  plied  in  the  British  trenches.  Before  7  A.  M.  the 
entire  force  was  on  the  New  York  shore.  When  Howe 
awoke  that  morning  he  found  that  an  army  of  nine 
thousand  men,  with  stores,  baggage,  and  artillery,  had 
been  .spirited  away  while  he  slept.  Some  one  has  said 
that  "  to  conduct  a  skillful  retreat  is  equal  to  winning 
a  great  victory." 


XIII.    THE    BATTLE    OF    HARLEM    HEIGHTS. 

THE  30th  and  31st  of  August,  1776,  were  anxious 
days  in  New  York.  Tents,  arms,  clothes,  baggage, 
ammunition,  all  manner  of  camp  equipage,  soaked  with 
rain,  obstructed  the  streets  and  sidewalks ;  squads  of  sol- 
diers off  duty  wandered  wearily  about  or  lingered  on  the 
corners.  In  the  defenses — McDougall's  and  the  Oyster 
batteries  on  a  little  hill  in  the  rear  of  Trinity  Church, 
Fort  George  and  the  Grand  Battery  in  the  present  Bat- 
tery Park,  Whitehall  Redoubt  at  the  foot  of  the  present 
Whitehall  Street,  Waterbury's  on  the  dock  at  the  angle 
of  Catherine  and  Cherry  streets,  Badlam's  between 
Madison  and  Monroe  streets,  and  Spencer's  between 
CHnton  and  Montgomery — the  gunners  stood  at  atten- 
tion, for  all  expected  an  immediate  attack.  Why  it  was 
not  made  is  one  of  several  puzzling  things  connected 
with  this  whole  defense  of  New  York. 

Why,  in  the  first  place,  in  view  of  the  vastly  greater 
force  of  his  enemy,  both  by  land  and  sea,  did  Washing- 
ton attempt  to  hold  New  York  at  all?  The  final  result 
could  not  have  been  in  doubt;  but  if  he  was  resolved  to 
fight,  why  did  he  not  seize  and  fortify  Harlem  Heights, 
including  McGowans  Pass,  and  thus  keep  open  his  line 
of  retreat?  And  why,  on  the  other  hand,  did  Howe 
wait  four  full  days  after  landing  on  the  Gravesend  plain 

174 


'7i) 

before  marching  against  the  Americans,  thus  giving  them 
time  to  prepare  for  battle?  And  why,  after  his  vic- 
tory of  August  I']  with  his  superior  force,  did  he  not  as- 
sault the  patriots'  line?  And  why  did  he  not  ascend 
the  Hudson  with  his  fleet  and  seize  the  undefended 
Harlem  Heights,  thus  cutting  off  Washington's  line  of 
retreat  and  compelling  him  to  surrender  his  whole 
army  ? 

Washington  probably  decided  to  hold  New  York 
because  he  feared  the  effect  on  the  country  and  on  the 
world  of  yielding  the  city  without  a  struggle.  This 
was  really  the  second  battle  of  the  war.  It  had  been 
said  that  his  ragged  Continentals  would  not  stand  in 
open  battle  against  the  seasoned  veterans  of  Europe, 


pnxoKTfre 

CJTVOKNKW-VORK' 


176 

and  he  wished  to  prove  the  contrary.  Again,  our  envoys 
to  France  were  even  then  at  the  court  of  the  French 
king-,  seeking  the  alhance  which  was  soon  declared,  and 
which  the  bravery  of  the  heroes  of  Battle  Hill  and 
Mount  Prospect  may  have  hastened.  As  for  Lord 
Howe's  acts,  we  have  no  explanation  for  them  except 
that  he  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Americans  and  wished 
to  aid  their  cause. 

New  York  in  1776  was  a  town  of  twenty-five  thou- 


Fort  at  McGowans  Pass. 


sand  people  and  four  thousand  houses,  filling  the  apex 
of  the  acute  angle  made  by  the  two  rivers,  thus — V. 
Most  of  the  town  lay  below  the  present  Chambers 
Street,  and  comprised  an  area  of  less  than  one  square 
mile.  But  one  road  led  off  the  island,  the  Kingsbridge  or 
**  Boston  Post  Road,"  which  left  Broadway  at  the  present 
post  office  building,  followed  Chatham  Street  to  the 
present  Chatham  Square,  thence  the  Bowery  and  Fourth 


177 

Avenue  to  Fourteenth  Street,  crossed  Union  Square 
northwest,  thence  followed  the  present  line  of  Broadway 
to  Madison  Square,  then  turned  northeast  and  ran  on 
between  Fourth  and  Second  avenues  to  Fifty-third 
Street,  there  took  a  more  easterly  course  to  Ninety- 
second  Street,  where  it  turned  west  and  entered  the 
present  Central  Park,  and  continued  therein  until  it  had 
threaded  a  narrow  defile  called  McGowans  Pass,  from 
the  fact  that  the  farmhouse  of  a  man  of  that  name  was 
situated  there.  From  this  pass,  which  was  about  on  the 
line  of  One  Hundred  and  Seventh  Street,  the  road  fol- 
lowed over  Harlem  Lane,  and  crossed  the  Harlem 
River  by  a  small  wooden  bridi^e  called  the  King's  bridge. 
This  was  the  only  route  by  which  Washington's  army 
could  gain  the  high  ground  on  the  opposite  shore. 

There  was  another  road  on  the  western  side  of  the 
island,  the  "  Bloomingdale  Road,"  which  left  the  Post 
Road  at  about  the  present  corner  of  Twenty-third  Street 
and  Fifth  Avenue,  and  passed  through  the  hamlet  of 
Bloomingdale  to  the  farmhouse  of  Adriaen  Hoofland,  at 
about  One  Hundred  and  Eighth  Street,  where  it  ended 
abruptly.  Still  another  road  ran  from  the  upper  part 
of  the  city  to  the  village  of  Greenwich  on  the  Hudson, 
at  about  the  foot  of  the  present  Fourteenth  Street,  and 
then  continued  as  a  pretty  rustic  lane  until  it  joined  the 
Bloomingdale  Road  at  Forty-third  Street.  The  whole 
island  above  Fourteenth  Street  was  a  mass  of  crag, 
forest,  swampy  thicket,  and  natural  meadow. 

With  Brooklyn  Heights  in  possession  of  the  enemy, 
the  question  arose  whether  to  defend  New  York  or  burn 
it  and  retreat  to  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson.    Wash- 

TODD,  N.  Y.  — 12 


1/8 

ington  referred  it  to  Congress,  and  that  body  gave  him 
sole  discretion  in  the  matter.  He  accordingly  called  a 
council  of  his  ofhcers  on  September  12,  at  which  it  was 
decided  to  evacuate  the  city  ;  without  destroying  it,  how- 
ever, as  it  was  thought  that  it  might  soon  be  recovered. 

It  was  quite  time,  for  the  British  commander  was 
already  moving  his  troops  with  a  view  of  attacking  the 
city.  On  September  3  the  frigate  Rose  had  sailed  up 
the  East  River  past  the  Battery,  conveying  thirty  whale- 
boats  to  be 'used  in  crossing  the  river.  On  the  12th, 
thirty-six  more  boats  passed  up,  and  on  the  14th  four 
frigates  and  six  transports  joined  the  Rose. 

Washington  now  pressed  all  his  teams  and  transports 
into  the  work  of  removing  the  sick,  wounded,  and  stores 


Apthorpe  Mansion. 


179 

to  Kingsbridge.  One  more  day  would  have  com- 
pleted the  task;  but  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of 
September  the  British  moved  on  the  city,  and  that  same 
afternoon  captured  it.  Washington,  the  night  before, 
had  left  New  York  and  fixed  his  headquarters  at  the 
Apthorpe  mansion,  which  stood  on  the  Bloomingdale 
Road,  at  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Ninth  Avenue  and 
Ninety-first  Street.  Putnam's  and  Sullivan's  divisions 
garrisoned  the  city  and  the  forts;  Scott's  New  York 
brigade  was  stationed  on  the  Stuy vesant  estate,  about  on 
the  line  of  the  present  East  Fifteenth  Street ;  Wads- 
worth,  with  his  Connecticut  troops,  was  at  Twenty-third 
Street ;  and  Douglas,  with  three  regiments  of  Connecti- 
cut militia,  was  at  Kips  Bay,  at  the  foot  of  the  present 
Thirty-fourth  Street. 

This  was  the  situation  on  Sunday  morning,  Septem- 
ber 15.  Soon  after  daybreak  Douglas,  at  Kips  Bay, 
saw  five  frigates  move  up  the  river  and  come  to  abreast 
of  his  position.  At  the  same  time,  from  the  mouth  of 
Newtown  Creek,  on  the  opposite  shore,  issued  eighty- 
four  row  galleys  filled  with  grenadiers  in  scarlet  uni- 
forms, looking,  as  a  soldier  aptly  said,  "  like  a  clover 
field  in  full  bloom."  The  grenadiers  with  their  oars 
urged  the  boats  on.  As  they  neared  the  shore,  all  at 
once,  with  a  burst  of  thunder,  the  seventy-five  guns  of 
the  frigates  belched  a  storm  of  grapeshot  on  the  de- 
voted patriots.  One  soldier  thought  "  his  head  would 
go  with  the  sound;  "  "but,"  he  added,  "we  kept  the 
line  until  they  were  almost  leveled  upon  us,  when  the 
officers,  seeing  we  were  exposed  to  the  rake  of  their 
guns,  gave  the  order  to  leave." 


i8o 

At  the  same  time  the  galleys  were  beached  a  little  to 
the  left,  and  the  grenadiers  leaped  ashore  without  oppo- 
sition. All  the  American  brigades  along  the  river  now 
began  to  retreat  northward  toward  Kingsbridge,  over 
which  ran,  as  we  have  said,  the  only  road  leading  at 
that  time  from  the  island.  But  the  British  pursued  them 
so  hotly  that  they  were  soon  in  panic-stricken  flight. 
Up  the  Post  Road  they  ran,  every  man  for  himself, 
Douglas,  Huntington,  and  Prescott  in  vain  trying  to 
check  and  reform  them. 

Washington,  at  the  Apthorpe  house,  heard  the  firing, 
leaped  to  his  horse,  and  spurred  down  the  Bloomingdale 
Road  and  across  by  a  country  lane  to  the  Post  Road, 
reaching  it  just  as  the  mob  of  frightened  fugitives  came 
toiling  and  panting  up,  some  taking  to  the  fields  in  their 
panic,  some  keeping  to  the  road.  As  it  happened, 
Parsons's  and  Fellows's  brigades,  which  had  been  ordered 
up  to  check  the  rout,  appeared  at  this  moment,  and 
Washington  shouted  to  them,  "  Take  to  the  walls,  take 
to  the  cornfield!  " 

The  men  did  so,  but  the  enemy's  vanguard  appearing 
at  this  critical  instant  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  they  broke 
and  fled  in  as  much  disorder  as  the  militia.  Washing- 
ton, at  the  sight,  is  said  to  have  lost  his  usual  self-com- 
mand, and  to  have  dashed  in  among  the  fugitives,  wav- 
ing his  hat  and  imploring  them  to  make  a  stand;  but  it 
was  useless,  and  recognizing  this  at  last,  he  commanded 
the  retreat  to  be  continued,  while  he  spurred  on  to  Har- 
lem Heights  to  make  preparations  to  receive  the  British 
there. 

Meantime,  what  of  Putnam's  division,  which  was  gar- 


i8i 

risoning  the  forts  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  ?  At  the 
first  sound  of  the  guns  it  had  been  put  in  retreat  toward 
Harlem,  following  the  Bloomingdale  Road,  while  Knox's 
artillery  and  Silliman's  brigade  of  infantry  took  post  at 
Bayards  Hill  Fort,  on  a  bluff  at  about  the  present 
corner  of  Grand  and  Mulberry  streets,  to  cover  its  re- 
treat. This  was  perhaps  two  hours  before  the  rout  at 
Murrays  Hill,  and  the  column,  though  moving  slowly, 
was  now  well  up  the  island.  Putnam,  finding  himself 
unable  to  rally  the  fugitives  on  the  Post  Road,  next 
turned  his  attention  to  his  own  column,  first  ordering 
his  aid.  Major  Aaron  Burr,  with  a  company  of  dragoons, 
to  bring  off  Knox's  and  Silliman's  brigades  at  Bayards 
Hill — an  order  very  successfully  carried  out  by  Major 
Burr,  who  first  led  the  brigades  to  the  main  column,  and 
then  by  lanes  and  devious  ways  past  the  British  advance, 
which  by  this  time  had  gained  the  center  of  the  island, 
until  they  rejoined  the  main  body  in  Harlem. 

The  army  was  now  out  of  the  city.  Harlem  Heights 
had  become  the  seat  of  war. 

If  we  visit  the  great  brown  cliff  now  known  as  Morn- 
ingside  Park,  and  take  our  stand  at  about  where  One 
Hundred  and  Nineteenth  Street  crosses  it,  we  can  take 
in  the  battlefield  at  a  glance.  At  our  feet  the  plain  of 
Harlem,  now  covered  with  brick  and  stone,  stretches 
away  to  the  east.  North,  directly  across  the  valley,  rises 
another  rocky  height,  known  in  1776  as  Point  of  Rocks, 
and  extending  thence  northwest  in  a  series  of  points  and 
ledges  to  the  Hudson,  the  whole  range  being  known  as 
Harlem  Heights.  Washington  massed  his  army  on  the 
Point  of  Rocks  after  the  retreat,  fixing  his  headquarters 


I82 


in   the   Morris  house  (now  the  Jumel  mansion),  which 
still  stands  in  its  grounds  a  little  southwest  of  High 


Jumel  Mansion. 


Bridge.  The  British  took  post  where  we  are  supposed 
to  stand.  The  plain  below,  then  mostly  covered  with 
forest,  was  the  scene  of  the  battle  of  Harlem  Heights. 

It  was  the  aim  of  the  British  to  drive  the  Americans 
from  their  position.  The  latter,  however,  did  not  stand 
on  the  defensive,  but  descended  into  the  plain  and 
brought  on  the  battle.  Washington  at  daylight  on  the 
morning  of  the  i6th  of  September  dispatched  Colonel 
Thomas  Knowlton,  with  a  small  force,  to  beat  up  the 
forests  along  the  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  see  what  the 
British  were  doing.    Knowlton  did  so,  found  the  enemy 


183 

at  the  base  of  the  clifTs,  and  after  exchanging  shots  re- 
treated, drawing  a  force  of  some  three  hundred  men  in 
pursuit.  On  hearing  the  firing  Washington  sent  his 
adjutant  general,  Colonel  Reed,  to  learn  the  cause,  and 
on  the  latter's  reporting  that  Knowlton  was  retreating 
before  a  superior  force,  sent  forward  reenforcements 
which  quickly  put  the  British  to  flight. 

The  second  or  main  battle  began  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  lasted  till  two,  ending  in  the  defeat  of  the 
British. 

About  ten  a  squadron  of  British  cavalry  appeared  in 
the  plain,  and  blew  their  bugles  in  the  face  of  the 
Americans  as  at  a  fox  hunt.  Washington  accepted  the 
challenge  and  ordered  Major  Leitch,  with  his  Virginian 
riflemen,  and  Colonel  Knowlton,  with  his  Connecticut 
rangers,  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  British  by  their  right 
flank,  while  the  main  body  attacked  them  in  front.  At 
the  sound  of  firing  the  enemy  hurried  up  his  reserves. 
Unfortunately,  the  riflemen  and  rangers,  losing  their 
way  in  the  forest,  struck  the  right  flank  of  the  British 
instead  of  their  rear,  as  ordered,  which  alarmed  the 
EngHsh  commander,  and  he  ordered  up  his  choicest 
regiments.  Washington  responded  by  sending  in 
detachments  of  Douglas's,  Nixon's,  Richardson's,  and 
Griflfeths's  regiments,  the  same  troops  that  had  fled  so 
ingloriously  the  day  before,  and  the  battle  in  the  plain 
opened  with  spirit.  But  to-day  these  same  troops 
fought  like  veterans  and  forced  the  British  back  upon 
their  reserves  on  the  hilltop.  Knowlton  and  Leitch, 
on  their  side  of  the  field,  were  equally  successful,  and 
rolled   the  British  left  back   upon  the  heights.     There 


1 84 

the  combined  forces  made  a  stubborn  stand,  but  at 
last  were  driven  from  the  cHffs  as  they  had  been  from 
the  valley.  About  noon,  meeting  with  reenforcements 
in  their  retreat,  they  made  a  fresh  stand  in  a  buck- 
wheat field,  and  held  their  ground  for  about  two  hours, 
but  were  finally  routed  again  and  chased  for  two  miles, 
the  Americans  mocking  their  bugles  as  they  pursued. 
The  patriots  had  won  a  barren  victory,  however,  except 
that  it  had  blotted  out  the  disgrace  of  the  day  before 
and  renewed  their  courage  and  confidence  in  them- 
selves; for  Howe  remained  master  of  New  York,  and 
could,  by  seizing  Washington's  line  of  retreat  across 
the  Harlem,  hem  him  in  and  force  him  to  surrender. 

The  Americans  continued  to  hold  Fort  Washington 
(which  stood  on  the  high  point  of  land  south  of  Spuy- 
ten  Duyvil,  at  what  would  be  the  intersection  of  Fort 
Washington  Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- 
third  Street,  if  cut  through),^  with  half  a  score  of  sup- 
porting forts  and  three  lines  of  intrenchments  extend- 
ing from  the  Hudson  to  the  Harlem,  until  the  morning 
of  November  i6,  1776,  when  they  were  attacked  by  a 
force  of  eighty-nine  hundred  British  and  Hessians  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Lord  Howe  himself.  After  a 
gallant  and  desperate  defense  of  two  hours,  the  British 
threw  a  detachment  across  the  Harlem  below  the  second 
line  of  intrenchments  and  assailed  the  Americans  in  the 
rear ;  and  a  concerted  attack  being  made  in  front  and  on 
both  flanks  at  the  same  time,  Colonel  Robert  Magaw, 
the   officer  in   command,   surrendered   his  entire  force. 

1  James  Gordon  Bennett's  house  stands  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  north 
bastion, 


I8S 

It  was  the  most  serious  reverse  the  Americans  had 
yet  met.  Some  three  thousand  men,  the  flower  of 
the  American  army,  were  captured,  with  forty-three 
guns  and  a  large  amount  of  stores.  The  British  loss 
was  sev^enty-eight  killed  and'three  hundred  and  eighty 
wounded,  the  American,  fifty-four  killed  and  twelve 
wounded. 


.   XIV.  NEW  YORK  IN  THE  GRASP  OF 
THE  INVADER. 

WHEN  Howe's  army  assumed  control  of  New 
York,  September  i6,  1776,  she  bore  much  the 
appearance  of  a  dismantled  city.  Many  of  the  people 
had  fled,  taking  with  them  everything  they  could  carry. 
Houses  and  stores  were  closed,  churches  and  public 
buildings  barred ;  even  the  bells  had  been  rem.oved 
from  the  belfries.  The  city  remained  in  captivity  during 
the  whole  period  of  the  war.  At  midnight  on  Sep- 
tember 21,  1776,  five  days  after  Howe  took  possession, 
a  fire  broke  out  in  a  low  groggery  near  Whitehall 
Street,  and,  fanned  by  a  strong  south  wind,  swept  like  a 
prairie  fire  through  the  city.  Nearly  every  building  as 
far  north  as  King's  College,  including  Trinity  Church, 
its  rectory  and  charity  school,  and  the  Lutheran  church, 
was  destroyed.  Four  hundred  and  ninety-three  houses 
and  several  churches  were  burned.  The  British  jumped 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  torch  had  been  applied  by 
tlje  Americans  to  prevent  their  using  the  city  for  winter 
quarters,  and  Howe  so  charged  in  his  official  report ; 
but  this  the  patriot  leaders  indignantly  denied.  **  By 
what  means  it  happened  we  do  not  know,"  wrote 
Washington  to  Governor  Trumbull  the  day  after  the 
fire,  and  Colonel  Reed  wrote  to  his  wife  the  same  day : 

186 


1 87 


•'  There  was  a  resolve  in  Congress  against  our  injuring 
it,  so  that  we  neither  set  it  on  fire,  nor  made  any  prepa- 
rations for  the  purpose."  Much  suffering  was  experi- 
enced by  the  poor  people  thus  deprived  of  their  homes. 

Following  close  on  the  heels  of  the  fire  came  one  of 
the  most  tragical  incidents  of  the  Revolution — the  exe- 
cution  of  Captain    Nathan    Hale  of   Connecticut  as  a 
spy.     This  gallant  young  officer,  barely 
twenty-one,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
and  about  to  be   married  to  a  beautiful 
girl,  at  Washington's  request  had  volun- 
teered to  enter  the  British  lines  and  gain 
intelligence  of  Howe's  numbers,  position, 
and    plans.      Disguised   as    a   wandering 
schoolmaster,  he  succeeded,  and  had  on 
his  return   nearly  regained  his  whale- 
boat    at    Huntington,    when    he    was 
captured    by   a    yawl    from   a    British 
frigate  lying  near  by,  and  sent  to  New 
York  as  "  a  prisoner  taken  within 
the  lines,"  that  is,  as  a  spy. 

He  had  known  before  venturing 
what  his  fate  would  be  if  taken  — 
death  by  hanging.  Howe  called  a 
court  martial  for  the  next  day  to  try  him,  but  Hale  told 
them  he  would  save  them  the  trouble,  and  boldly  avowed 
himself  a  spy  in  the  service  of  General  Washington. 
The  board  thereupon  condemned  him  to  be  hanged  the 
next  day,  which  was  Sunday.  Hale  met  his  fate  with 
a  lofty  patriotism  which  has  rendered  him  immortal. 
As   he   stood   upon   a  cart  under  an   apple   tree  in  the 


Nathan  Hale. 


i88 

Rutgers  orchard,  with  the  noose  about  his  neck,  one  of 
his  enemies  said  tauntingly,  "  This  is  a  fine  death  for 
a  soldier."  "Sir,"  replied  Hale,  "there  is  no  death 
which  would  not  be  rendered  noble  in  such  a  glorious 
cause."  His  last  words  have  become  a  heritage  of  the 
.race.  "  I  only  regret,"  said  he,  "  that  I  have  but  one 
life  to  lose  for  my  country." 

For  seven  years  martial  law  governed  the  city.  New 
York  became  the  headquarters  of  the  British  army, 
its  storehouse  and  hospital,  and  the  prison  of  those 
Americans  unfortunate  enough  to  be  taken  in  arms. 
In  the  battles  at  the  time  of  its  capture  it  is  estimated 
that  five  thousand  prisoners  were  taken.  The  usual 
prisons  could  not  accommodate  them,  and  so  the 
French  church,  the  Brick,  Middle  Dutch,  and  North 
Dutch  churches  were  seized  and  turned  into  prisons. 
Besides  these  King's  College,  the  sugarhouse  on  Liberty 
Street,  the  new  jail,  the  Bridewell,  and  the  old  City 
Hall  were  also  used.  As  the  war  progressed  and  more 
captives  were  taken,  old  ships  condemned  for  unsea- 
worthiness were  moored  in  the  East  River  and  used  for 
prisons.  The  sufferings  of  the  poor  prisoners  confined 
in  them  were  terrible,  and  thousands  died. 

In  Liberty  Street,  just  south  of  the  Middle  Dutch 
Church,  stood  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  a 
heavy,  gloomy  stone  building,  five  stories  high,  with 
small,  deep  windows  rising  tier  above  tier  like  portholes 
in  a  ship  of  the  line.  Each  of  its  five  floors  was  divided 
into  two  bare,  dungeonlike  apartments,  on  the  walls  of 
which  might  be  traced  the  names  of  prisoners  carved 
there  nearly  a  century  before. 


1 89 


This  was  the  old  sugarhouse  of  the  Livingstons, 
the  prison  of  most  ominous  fame  of  any  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. A  strong  oaken  door  opened  on  Liberty  Street, 
and  another  on  the  southeast  gave  access  to  a  damp, 
vermin-infested  cellar.  While  held  as  a  prison  two 
sentinels  were  con- 
stantly on  guard  to 
prevent  the  escape 
of  the  desperate  cap- 
tives. Truly  they 
who  entered  here 
left  hope  behind,  like 
the  wretches  whom 
Dante  saw  crossing 
the  portals  of  the 
inferno. 

"  In  the  suffocat- 
ing heat  of  summer," 
wrote  William  Dunlap,  **  I  saw  every  narrow  aperture  of 
those  stonewalls  filled  with  human  heads,  face  above  face, 
seeking  a  portion  of  the  external  air."  "Seats  there 
were  none,"  testified  another  eyewitness,  "and  their  beds 
were  but  straw  intermixed  with  vermin.  For  many 
weeks  the  dead  cart  visited  the  prison  every  morning, 
into  which  eight  and  ten  corpses  were  flung,  piled  up 
like  sticks  of  wood,  and  then  dumped  into  ditches  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  city." 

The  prison  ships  were  even  worse,  if  we  may  believe 
the  tales  told  of  them.  They  were  at  first  assigned  to 
prisoners  taken  on  the  high  seas,  but  later  confined 
landsmen  as  well.     The  principal  ships  were  the  Jersey, 


The  Livingston  Sugarhouse. 


190 

Whitby y  Good  Hope,  Scorpion,  Falmouth,  Prince  of 
Wales,  Hunter,  and  Stronibolo.  Of  the  Jersey  the  more 
fearful  tales  were  told,,  perhaps  because  in  her  more 
were  confined  and  more  died  in  their  bonds.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  10,644  prisoners,  the  flower  of  American 
manhood,  died  in  her  during  the  war,  and  were  buried 
on  the  adjoining  Brooklyn  shore.  Her  position  was  in  the 
little  bay  known  as  the  Wallabout,  now  the  Navy  Yard. 

The  prisoner  newly  committed  to  her  fever-infected 
hold  was  brought  on  board,  his  name  and  rank  taken, 
his  weapons  and  money,  if  he  had  any,  removed,  and 
he  was  then  ordered  below,  where  he  found  a  thousand 
wretched  beings  racked  with  disease  and  emaciated 
with  hunger.  He  was  at  once  assigned  to  a  "mess" 
of  six  men,  and  every  morning,  as  the  steward's  bell 
sounded,  formed  in  line,  and  received  his  daily  ration  of 
biscuit,  peas,  beef  or  pork.  On  some  days  flour,  suet, 
oatmeal,  and  butter  were  added  to  this  bill  of  fare,  but 
never  fresh  vegetables.  "The  peas,"  said  a  survivor, 
"  were  damaged,  the  butter  rancid,  the  biscuit  moldy 
and  often  full  of  worms,  the  flour  sour,  the  beef  and 
pork  unsavory.  Not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  king  as 
of  his  rapacious  commissioners,  who  exchanged  good 
provisions  for  bad,  and  by  curtailing  rations  and  by 
other  expedients  heaped  up  large  fortunes  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  prisoners." 

The  suffering  and  mortality  here  are  not  to  be  ascribed 
so  much  to  the  British  government  as  to  the  petty  offi- 
cers placed  over  the  prisoners,  who  not  only  robbed 
them,  but  took  a  brutal  delight  in  torturing  them  and 
adding  to  their  discomforts  in  every  way  possible. 


191 

When  morning  came,  the  hatches  were  removed,  the 
poor  prisoners  brought  up  their  beds  and  spread  them 
on  the  deck  to  air,  washed  down  the  floors,  and  spent 
the  day  on  deck.  At  sunset  the  guards  would  cry, 
"Down,  rebels,  down!"  The  hatches  were  then  put 
in  place  and  fastened,  and  the  captives  stretched  them- 
selves in  rows  to  sleep  in  the  stifling,  feverish  air.  If 
one  died,  his  fellows  sewed  the  body  in  his  blanket ; 
it  was  lowered  into  a  boat,  which  was  rowed  ashore 
by  the  guard,  and  the  body  buried  in  a  shallow 
trench. 

There  were  many  escapes.  For  instance,  on  a  stormy 
night  in  1779,  nine  sea  captains  and  two  pirates  over- 
powered the  guard  and  escaped  in  the  ship's  boat. 
The  following  winter  fifteen  prisoners  gained  their 
freedom  by  walking  on  the  ice,  that  formed  sufficiently 
hard  to  bear  them. 

New  York  was  not  a  very  pleasant  place  to  live  in 
during  these  seven  years  of  war.  Martial  law  prevailed  ; 
that  is,  there  was  no  law  but  the  will  of  the  commander 
in  chief.  Any  citizen  might  on  suspicion  be  seized  by 
the  brutal  provost  guard  and  sent  to  prison,  to  be  tried 
by  a  military  court. 

The  burnt  district  (added  to  by  another  great  fire 
in  August,  1778)  was  soon  covered  by  a  nondescript 
array  of  tents  and  shanties  that  housed  the  scum  and 
refuse  of  the  British  army — desperate  villains,  insomuch 
that  respectable  citizens  were  afraid  to  venture  into  the 
streets  after  dark.  The  people,  too,  were  in  constant  fear 
of  an  attack  by  the  Americans.  All  the  adherents  of 
the  patriot  cause  who  could  left  the  city.      On  the  other 


192 

hand,  many  Tories  whom  the  Americans  had  driven  from 
the  country  fled  hither  for  protection.  Business  was 
largely  suspended. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  but  the  Tories  were  sad  when  the 
news  of  peace  came  and  the  British  prepared  to  leave 
the  city.  The  25th  of  November,  1783,  was  appointed 
for  this  happy  event.  At  an  early  hour  the  rear  guard 
of  the  British  army  embarked  at  the  Battery  and  pulled 
away  to  their  ships.  At  the  same  time  the  Continen- 
tals marched  down  from  the  Bowery  with  drums  beat- 
ing and  standards  waving  in  the  breeze. 

When  the  head  of  the  column  reached  Cope's  Tavern, 
at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  R-ector  Street,  it  halted 
to  receive  a  civic  procession  that  had  started  frqm  the 
Bull's  Head  Tavern,  in  the  Bowery,  about  the  same  time. 
In  this  procession  marched  most  of  the  notables,  civil 
and  military,  of  the  day. 

Captain  Delevan's  Westchester  Light  Horse  led  the 
advance.  Next  came  General  Washington,  and  George 
Clinton,  governor  of  New  York,  with  their  suites,  on 
horseback;  next  the  lieutenant  governor  and  members 
of  the  city  council  for  the  time  being,  four  abreast ;  then 
the  generals  of  the  army, — Knox,  Steuben,  McDougall, 
James  Clinton,  and  others, — eight  abreast;  then  citizens 
on  horseback;  next  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  and 
after  him  a  great  body  of  citizens  on  foot.  When  the 
head  of  this  procession  halted  before  Cope's  Tavern,  the 
soldiers  presented  arms,  the  drums  beat,  the  people 
cheered,  and  the  guns  of  Fort  George  thundered  a 
salute.  Addresses  were  then  made  to  the  general  and 
the  governor  by  prominent  citizens,  and  in  the  evening 


193 

there  was  a  grand  banquet  at  Fraunces's  Tavern.  Thus 
New  York  welcomed  her  own  again. 

Governor  Clinton  took  up  his  residence  in  the  De 
Peyster  mansion,  on  Queen  Street  (now  Pearl),  near 
Cedar,  and  at  once  set  in  motion  the  government  of  the 
new  State  of  New  York.  In  December,  aldermen  were 
elected :  two  months  later  the  governor's  council  ap- 
pointed James  Duane  the  first  mayor  of  republican  New 
York,  and  the  city  government  was  complete. 

Another  and  still  more  dramatic  scene  occurred  in 
New  York  during  this  period,  and  fitly  closes  this 
chapter — the  leave-taking  of  his  officers  by  Washington, 
the  beloved  commander  in  chief.  This  took  place  in 
the  "  great  room  "  of  Fraunces's  Tavern,  the  fashion- 
able hotel  of  the  day,  where  Washington  had  fixed  his 
headquarters.  Here,  on  Thursday,  December  4,  1783, 
the  general  officers  assembled  for  the  last  farewell. 
They  would  never  meet  again  as  soldiers  of  the  Con- 
tinental army. 

Washington  and  many  of  the  bearded  warriors  are 
said  to  have  been  aflfected  to  tears.  The  former  entered 
the  room,  and  taking  a  glass  of  wine  in  his  hand,  said : 
'*  With  a  heart  filled  with  love  and  gratitude,  I  now 
take  leave  of  you.  I  most  devoutly  wish  that  your 
latter  days  may  be  as  prosperous  and  happy  as  your 
former  ones  have  been  glorious  and  honorable." 

Having  drained  the  glass,  he  continued:  *' I  cannot 
come  to  each  of  you  to  take  my  leave,  but  shall  be 
obliged  to  you  if  each  will  come  and  take  me  by  the 
hand." 

General   Knox,  Washington's  favorite   officer,  stood 

TODD,  N.  Y.  — 13 


194 

nearest  him,  and  at  these  words  turned  and  grasped  his 
hand,  and  while  tears  rolled  down  the  cheeks  of  both 
the  commander  in  chief  kissed  him.  This  he  did  to 
all  in  turn,  while  sounds  of  grief  filled  the  room.  Soon, 
however,  Washington  regained  his  usual  composure,  and 
walked  to  the  Whitehall,  followed  by  a  great  multitude, 
who  cheered  again  and  again  for  the  savior  of  his  coun- 
try ;  but  escaping  from  them,  he  entered  a  barge  and 
was  rowed  to  Paulus  Hook,  where  he  took  stage  for 
Philadelphia  and  the  retirement  of  Mount  Vernon. 


XV.     NEW   YORK   THE    CAPITAL   CITY. 

NEW  YORK  is  the  metropolis  of  America,  the 
second  city  of  the  world,  yet  she  may  well  pride 
herself  on  the  fact  that  she  was  the  first  capital  of  the 
infant  republic,  that  in  her  borders  the  Constitution  was 
first  tried,  the  first  President  inaugurated,  and  the  wheels 
of  national  government  first  set  in  motion.  Washington 
was  elected  the  first  President,  as  you  know.  The  first 
Congress  under  the  Constitution  was  to  have  met  in  New 
York  on  the  4th  of  March,  1 789,  to  count  the  votes  for 
President;  but  neither  the  Senate  nor  the  House  had  a 
quorum  on  that  day,  the  members  having  been  delayed 
by  bad  roads,  swollen  rivers,  and  March  mud,  so  that  it 
was  not  until  the  6th  of  April  that  both  houses  organized 
and  declared  George  Washington  the  unanimous  choice 
of  the  American  people  for  President. 

The  President  elect,  apprised  at  Mount  Vernon  by 
official  messenger,  left  his  home  on  the  i6th  of  April, 
and  after  a  triumphal  progress  reached  New  York  on 
the  23d  of  April.  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  the 
newly  elected  Vice  President,  had  preceded  him,  arriving 
on  the  20th.  It  took  a  week  to  complete  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  inaugural  ceremonies,  which,  as  completing 
the  fabric  of  a  national  government,  it  had  been  decided 
should  be  of  the  most  imposing  character.     On  the  day 

195 


196 

appointed,  Thursday,  April  30,  1789,  the  thunder  of 
guns  aroused  the  people.  At  nine  o'clock  every  bell  in 
the  city  rang  a  merry  peal  for  a  few  moments  and  then 
suddenly  ceased. 

The    din    of    traffic   was    hushed,   but    the    Sabbath 
silence  of  the  streets  was  soon  broken  by  the  tread  of 


Washington's  Reception  at  New  York. 

multitudes  in  gala  attire,  citizens  and  visitors.  New 
York  had  never  before  welcomed  so  many  strangers. 
They  came  from  town  and  country  for  a  hundred  miles 
around,  by  packet,  stagecoach,  and  private  conveyance, 
to  hail  the  nativity  of  a  new  nation.  Each  awaited  with 
solemn  gladness  the  commencement  of  the  ceremonies. 
After  a  measured  interval   the  bells  began  again  in 


197 

slow,  solemn  tones,  calling  the  people  to  the  churches  to 
invoke  God's  blessing  on  the  young  nation  and  its  un- 
tried President. 

After  the  religious  exercises  the  military  escort 
formed  in  Cherry  Street,  opposite  the  President's  home, 
and  as  he  appeared,  attended  by  a  joint  committee  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  appointed  to  escort 
him  to  the  capitol,  formed  in  columns  and  took  position 
at  the  head  of  the  procession.  The  august  body  then 
moved  to  the  capitol  in  the  following  order :  the  sheriff 
of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  the  committee  of 
the  Senate,  the  President  elect,  the  committee  of  the 
House,  Chancellor  Robert  R.  Livingston,  John  Jay, 
Henry  Knox,  the  commissioners  of  the  Treasury,  and 
distinguished  citizens  in  carriages.  The  capitol  was  the 
former  City  Hall  of  New  York,  that  stood  on  the  corner 
of  Nassau  and  Wall  streets,  where  now  you  see  the 
subtreasury  of  the  United  States,  with  the  statue  of 
Washington  before  it.  The  building  had  been  re- 
modeled and  renovated  by  Major  Pierre  L'Enfant,  the 
great  French  engineer  who  later  laid  out  the  federal  city 
of  Washington.  The  procession  marched  up  Broad 
Street  to  Wall,  and  then  halted  in  front  of  the  capitol ; 
the  regiments  opened  ranks,  and  Washington  and  the 
distinguished  company  passed  through  into  the  capitol, 
and  up  the  broad  stairway  to  the  senate  chamber,  where 
both  houses  of  Congress  were  assembled.  As  Washing- 
ton entered,  John  Adams,  the  Vice  President,  and  there- 
fore presiding  officer  of  the  Senate,  arose,  advanced, 
received  him  with  the  stately  courtesy  of  the  day,  and 
conducted  him  to  the  Vice  President's  chair,  which  he 


198 

had  just  left  Then,  after  presenting  him  to  the  august 
body,  he  thus  addressed  him : 

"Sir:  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  are  ready  to  attend  you  to  take  the  oath 
required  by  the  Constitution,  which  will  be  administered 
by  the  chancellor  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

**  I  am  ready  to  proceed,"  was  the  President's  reply. 

Washington  and  Adams,  arm  in  arm,  then  walked  to  a 
balcony  overlooking  Wall  Street,  followed  by  Chancellor 
Livingston  in  his  judicial  robes,  by  the  senators  and 
representatives.  An  inspiring  sight  met  their  eyes 
as  they  emerged  upon  the  gallery.  Wall  and  Broad 
streets  were  a  sea  of  upturned  faces.  All  the  windows, 
balconies,  and  housetops  in  the  vicinity  were  laden  with 
ladies  in  gala  attire.      Flags  and  banners,  caressed  by 


Inauguration  of  Washington. 


99 


the  mild  spring  zephyrs  and  bearing  the  magic  name 
"  Washington,"  waved  everywhere.  From  the  whole 
vast  throng  not  a  whisper  arose.  Soon  the  confused 
mass  in  the  balcony  resolved  itself  into  three  central 
figures — the  noble  form  of  the  President  on  the  right, 
opposite  him  Chancellor  Livingston,  and  between  them 
the  secretary  of  the  Senate, 
James  Otis,  holding  upon  a 
crimson  cushion  an  open  Bible. 
Then  the  chancellor,  in  a  voice 
that  reached  every  ear,  re- 
peated the  solemn  oath: 

**  You  do  solemnly  swear 
that  you  will  faithfully  exe- 
cute the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States,  and 
will  to  the  best  of  your  ability 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend 
the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 

"I  swear,"  said  Washington,  as  he  bent  to  kiss  the 
Bible,  adding  with  fervor,  '*  so  help  me  God." 

Chancellor  Livingston  turned  to  the  people,  and  wav- 
ing his  hand,  cried  with  strong,  triumphant  voice,  **  Long 
live  George  Washington,  President  of  the  United 
States,"  and  the  people  answered  with  resounding 
cheers,  while  the  spires  shook  with  the  pealing  of  bells, 
and  the  air  trembled  with  the  thunder  of  cannon  from 
ship  and  fort. 

For  a  year  New  York  continued  to  be  the  court  town. 
Washington  and  his  cabinet, — Jefferson,   Secretary  of 


Washington's  Chair  at  the 
Inauguration. 


200 

State,  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Knox, 
Secretary  of  War, — Adams,  the  Vice  President,  John 
Jay,  the  first  chief  justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  Governor  George  CHnton,  and  other  high  officers 
of  government  removed  their  families  to  the  city,  and 
formed  a  court  circle  modeled  somewhat  after  that  of 
European  capitals. 

There  was  far  more  of  stately  ceremonial  and  eti- 
quette about  official  life  in  those  days  than  now.  For 
instance,  the  President  delivered  his  messages  to  Con- 
gress in  person,  after  the  fashion  of  the  English  kings, 
instead  of  sending  them  by  his  secretary  as  now.  In 
his  diary  for  January  8,  1790,  Washington  gives  an 
interesting  account  of  this  ceremony.  He  set  out  at 
eleven  o'clock  for  Federal  Hall,  he  tells  us,  in  a  coach 
drawn  by  six  horses,  preceded  by  his  secretary,  Colonel 
Humphreys,  and  Major  Johnson  on  horseback,  followed 
by  Messrs.  Lear  and  Nelson  in  his  chariot,  and  by  Mr. 
Lewis  on  horseback.  In  their  rear  came  the  chief  justice 
of  the  United  States  and  the  secretaries  of  the  Treasury 
and  War  departments  in  their  carriages.  As  he  entered 
all  rose,  and  remained  standing  until  he  sat.  After  all 
were  seated  he  rose  and  delivered  his  speech,  and  then 
gave  one  copy  to  the  president  of  the  Senate  and  an- 
other to  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  after  which  he  bowed 
and  retired  with  his  party. 

In  a  few  days  Congress  returned  an  answer  to  the 
speech,  "  the  members  of  both  [houses]  coming  in  car- 
riages "  for  the  purpose,  and  "  the  answer  of  the  Senate 
being  presented  by  the  Vice  President,  and  that  of  the 
House  by  the  Speaker," 


(20I) 


202 

In  the  social  amenities  of  the  day  Washington  figured 
prominently.  He  leased  a  house,  at  first  Mr.  Osgood's, 
and  later  the  McComb  mansion  on  Broadway,  a  little 
south  of  Trinity  Church,  and  removed  thither  with  his 
wife,  his  horses,  carriages,  and  retinue  of  servants,  from 
Mount  Vernon.  He  entertained  generously,  and  was 
entertained  with  equal  hospitaHty.  At  one  time,  we 
read,  he  honored  Secretary  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  and 
several  others  with  tickets  to  his  private  box  in  the 
John  Street  theater.  At  another,  after  a  dinner  party 
he  went  with  Mrs.  Washington  to  the  dancing  assembly 
and  remained  there  until  ten  o'clock.  On  Christmas 
day  he  "went  to  St.  Paul's  Chapel  in  the  forenoon." 
The  houses  of  Jay,  Hamilton,  Vice  President  Adams, 
and  Governor  CHnton  were  also  centers  of  social  cour- 
tesies during  this  period. 

Meantime  the  question  of  a  permanent  site  for  a 
capital  was  agitating  the  nation.  New  York  would 
doubtless  have  been  chosen,  but  the  State  was  not  will- 
ing to  cede  the  ten  miles  square  of  territory  demanded. 
Philadelphia's  claims  were  warmly  advocated,  but 
Southern  congressmen  objected,  because  her  Quakers 
were  **  eternally  dogging  Southern  members  with  their 
schemes  of  emancipation."  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
other  Southern  States  advocated  a  site  on  the  Potomac, 
which  after  much  discussion  was  adopted  ;  but  while  our 
present  capital  city  of  Washington  was  being  built  Con- 
gress decided  to  hold  its  sessions  in  Philadelphia,  and 
when  it  rose  on  the  I2th  of  August,  1790,  it  adjourned 
to  meet  in  that  city  the  next  Deceniber, 


XVI.    THE   GROWTH   OF   PARTIES. 

FOR  the  first  few  years  after  the  war  the  law  offered 
the  best  field  to  the  strong  and  ardent  spirits  of 
the  day.  Litigation  was  rife, — confiscated  estates,  civil 
boundaries,  debts  of  individuals  and  States,  gave  large 
employment  to  the  courts, — while  the  law  then,  as  now, 
was  the  door  to  political  preferment.  There  were  two 
parties  from  the  beginning.  Federalist  and  Republican, 
first  defined  by  the  struggle  over  the  Constitution,  but 
still  very  loosely  organized.  The  Federalist  was  styled 
by  its  opponents  the  **  English  party."  Its  leaders 
regarded  the  British  Constitution  as  the  most  perfect 
that  could  be  devised,  and  wished  to  pattern  the  Ameri- 
can Constitution  after  it.  They  disliked  and  distrusted 
France,  and  advocated  a  strong  central  government,  a 
standing  army,  a  diplomatic  service  like  that  of  Euro- 
pean nations,  a  restriction  of  the  suffrage,  and  encour- 
agement of  domestic  industries  by  a  protective  tariff. 

The  Republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  stood  for  State 
rights  and  powers ;  they  advocated  the  utmost  simplicity 
and  economy  in  government,  the  doing  away  with  the 
state  and  etiquette  of  courts,  a  well-drilled  militia  in- 
stead of  a  standing  army,  open  sessions  of  Congress,  an 
extension  of  the  franchise,  free  trade,  and  the  encour- 
agement of  agriculture  and  internal  trade  rather  than  of 

203 


204 

foreign  commerce.  Washington,  Adams,  and  Hamilton 
were  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  Federalists;  Jeffer- 
son, Madison,  and,  later,  Aaron  Burr,  of  the  RepubHcans. 

The  successful  working  of  the  new  Constitution,  which 
was  based  largely  on  Federal  principles,  placed  the 
Federalists  in  power,  and  this  advantage  they  main- 
tained for  the  first  eleven  years  of  our  national  life. 
But  in  the  presidential  election  of  1800  a  condition  arose 
in  our  city  of  New  York  which  defeated  them. 

There  were  two  able  men  then  living  in  New  York, 
rivals  in  law,  politics,  and  other  things,  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton and  Aaron  Burr.  Hamilton  was  the  superior  of 
Burr  in  statesmanship  and  depth  of  intellect,  but  was 
far  excelled  by  the  latter  in  tact,  executive  force,  and 
mastery  over  men.  Burr  had  been  senator  from  New 
York  I  79 1  - 1  796,  and  in  the  presidential  election  of  i  796 
had  received  thirty  electoral  votes  for  President.  In 
I  796  he  had  been  defeated  for  reelection  to  the  Senate 
by  the  Federalists  under  Hamilton's  leadership,  and  in 
revenge  set  to  work  to  wrest  New  York  from  them 
in  the  approaching  presidential  contest  of  1800,  seeing 
clearly  that  with  the  vote  of  New  York  the  Republicans 
could  elect  their  candidate  for  President.  Presidential 
electors  at  that  time  were  chosen  by  the  State  legisla- 
tures; Burr  therefore  caused  himself  to  be  elected  to 
the  legislature  of  New  York,  and,  while  there,  with  favors 
and  compliments  made  himself  popular  with  rural  mem- 
bers, whom  he  knew  to  possess  great  influence  over  their 
constituents  at  home.  He  was  also  in  constant  com- 
munication with  his  party  leaders  in  other  States,  and 
arranged  with  them  a  plan  of  campaign. 


205 


As  the  year  1800  approached,  he  bent  all  his  mar- 
velous powers  so  to  organize  and  discipline  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  New  York  as  to  win  victory  at  the  polls. 
He  began  by  gathering  about  him  a  body  of  able,  ardent, 
resolute  spirits,  young  lawyers  mostly,  ambitious  to  rise, 
and  imparted  to  them  his  courage  and  energy.  They 
were  the  "ward  workers," — a  term  now  for  the  first 
time  known  in  American  politics, — who  attended  prima- 
ries and  caucuses,  and  got  out  the  full  vote,  nay,  more, 
made  lists  of  the  whole  body  of  freemen,  noting  the 
name,  age,  habits,  residence,  health,  and  religion  of  each, 
for  the  use  of  their  principal. 

You  must  remember  that  at  this  time  New  York  was 
Federal  in  politics.  John  Jay  was  governor.  In  the 
State  election  of  1 799  the  Republicans  had  been  beaten 
by  a  majority  of  nine  hundred  votes.  In  April,  1800, 
the  legislature  which  would  elect  presidential  electors 
was  to  be  chosen.  Burr  bent  every 
effort  to  make  it  Republican :  he 
nominated  only  the  strongest  men — 
George  Clinton,  so  long  governor  of 
New  York,  General  Horatio  Gates, 
the  conqueror  of  Burgoyne,  Samuel 
Osgood,  Washington's  Postmaster 
General,  and  others  of  equal  stand- 
ing; he  held  ward  and  general 
meetings  and  addressed  them  in 
his  nervous,  vigorous,  fiery  way, 
supervised  his  ward  workers,  and  noted  every  move  of 
his  adversary  with  the  eye  of  a  lynx. 

Hamilton,  who  again  led  the  Federalists,  also  threw 


Alexander  Hamilton. 


2o6 

all  his  heart  and  soul  Into  this  contest.  It  was  the  bit- 
terest political  conflict  the  young  nation  had  yet  seen. 
As  election  day  approached  the  result  was  felt  to  be 
doubtful.  The  polls  opened  on  the  29th  of  April,  and 
continued  open  for  three  days.  It  was  a  time  of  great 
excitement  in  the  city.  Newspapers,  broadsides, 
pamphlets,  flew  about  like  leaves  in  autumn.  From 
large  platforms  the  rival  leaders  addressed  the  people, 
often  by  turns,  one  listening  while  the  other  spoke,  and 
then  rising  and  replying. 

At  sunset  on  May  2  the  polls  closed,  and  before  the 
electors  slept  they  knew  that  the  Republicans  had  car- 
ried the  city  by  four  hundred  and  ninety  votes,  which 
made  the  State  Republican,  and  insured  the  success  of 
the  Republican  candidates  for  President  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent, Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr. 

Out  of  the  strife  and  bitterness  engendered  in  this 
conflict  grew  the  duel  between  General  Hamilton  and 
Colonel  Burr  on  July  1 1,  1804,  which  consigned  Hamil- 
ton to  the  grave,  and  made  Burr  an  outcast  and  wan- 
derer on  the  earth. 

After  the  presidential  contest  of  1804  officious  friends 
bore  to  Colonel  Burr  certain  remarks  reflecting  on  his 
character  said  to  have  been  uttered  by  General  Hamil- 
ton. By  and  by  these  remarks  were  printed  in  one  of 
the  party  organs  in  the  city.  Colonel  Burr  at  once  sent 
the  newspaper  by  a  friend  to  General  Hamilton,  and 
demanded  an  acknowledgment  or  denial  of  the  use  of 
such  expressions.  General  Hamilton  replied  that  if 
Colonel  Burr  would  single  out  any  one  expression  or 
statement  he  would  deny  or  acknowledge  it,   but  he 


207 

could  not  undertake  to  give  a  general  denial  or  ac- 
knowledgment as  to  what  he  had  or  had  not  said  in 
the  heat  of  political  debate  for  a  period  of  several  years. 

Colonel  Burr  replied  that  the  remarks  said  to  have 
been  made  by  General  Hamilton  cast  dishonor  upon  him, 
and  again  demanded  that  General  Hamilton  should  deny 
them  or  take  the  consequences.  General  Hamilton  re- 
fusing to  deny,  a  challenge  was  given  and  accepted. 

The  duel,  savage  and  murderous  as  we  now  justly 
regard  it,  was  then  the  recognized  mode  among  gentle- 
men of  settling  affairs  of  this  sort.  Both  Burr  and 
Hamilton  had  recognized  it.  A  few  years  before, 
Hamilton's  eldest  son,  a  youth  of  great  promise,  had 
fallen  iii  a  duel.  Burr  had  been  a  principal  in  one  of 
the  savage  affairs.  The  partisans  of  both  had  fought 
for  the  honor  of  their  chiefs  and  with  their  approval. 
For  either  of  the  latter  to  have  refused  to  fight  at 
this  juncture  would   have  been  to  sacrifice  his   posi- 


1  he  Duel  between  Burr  and  Hamilton. 


208 

tion  in  society  and  fall  in  public  esteem.  And  so, 
although  Hamilton  at  heart  detested  the  code,  they  met 
on  the  "  dark  and  bloody  ground  "  of  Weehawken,  sacred 
to  these  encounters. 

The  station  of  the  West  Shore  Railroad  is  a  little 
north  of  the  bench  in  the  cliff  where  the  duel  took 
place,  but  on  the  verge  of  the  crag  above  you  will  find 


Hamilton's  Residence. 


a  small  stone  pillar  with  an   inscription   which   nearly 
mirks  its  location. 

Hamilton  fell  at  the  first  fire,  mortally  wounded. 
Burr  escaped  unharmed.  The  fainting  statesman  was 
rowed  across  the  river  and  tenderl}^  carried  to  the  resi- 
dence nearest  at  hand,  that  of  Mr.  Bayard  of  Greenwich, 
his  own  beautiful  country  seat,  "  the  Grange,"  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  island,  being  too  far  away  to  be 
reached  by  one  in  his  condition.      Servants  were  hastily 


209 

sent  for  surgeons  and  nurses,  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  and  the 
children  summoned. 

The  fatal  meeting  occurred  at  sunrise.  The  victim 
died  at  two  o'clbck  next  day.  The  news  rapidly  spread 
through  the  city,  and  called  from  all  classes  expressions 
of  grief,  pity,  and  sympathy,  mingled  with  execrations 
on  the  slayer. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  merchants  held  the  same  evening 
it  was  resolved  to  close  the  stores  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral,  to  wear  crape  for  thirty  days,  and  to  order  the 
flags  on  the  shipping  at  half-mast. 

The  lawyers  met  next  morning  and  agreed  to  wear 
mourning  for  six  weeks.  The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 
the  Tammany  Society,  the  students  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege, the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  the  General  Society  of 
Mechanics,  the  various  military  companies,  the  cor- 
poration of  the  city,  all  passed  resolutions  of  sym- 
pathy, and  pledged  themselves  to  attend  the  funeral  in 
a  body. 

The  statesman's  death  occurred  on  Thursday  after- 
noon. His  funeral  was  held  in  Trinity  Church  the 
succeeding  Saturday.  A  more  imposing  pageant  than 
the  funeral  cortege  as  it  moved  slowly  down  Broadway, 
amid  the  booming  of  minute  guns  from  the  Battery  and 
war  ships  in  the  bay,  the  city  had  never  seen.  When 
all  were  assembled  in  the  church,  with  the  four  sons  of 
the  dead  statesman  beside  him,  the  eldest  sixteen,  the 
youngest  four,  Gouverneur  Morris,  the  lifelong  friend 
of  Hamilton,  delivered  an  eloquent  and  pathetic  funeral 
oration. 

Thus  tragically  passed   from   the  scene  one  of  the 

TODD,  N.  Y.— 14 


210 

greatest  spirits  New  York  has  ever  numbered  among 
her  citizens — 

THE  PATRIOT  OF  INCORRUPTIBLE  INTEGRITY, 

THE  SOLDIER  OF  APPROVED  VALOR, 

THE  STATESMAN  OF  CONSUMMATE  WISDOM, 

as  one  may  read  on  his  modest  tombstone  in  Trinity 
churchyard. 

His  honest  fame  is  the  city's  heritage.  For  our  in- 
struction let  us  glance  at  the  salient  points  of  his  career. 
Born  in  the  West  Indian  island  of  St.  Nevis  in  1757,  his 
father  a  Scotch  merchant,  his  mother  a  French  lady  of 
good  family,  he  was  sent  in  boyhood  to  a  grammar 
school  at  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  and  as  soon  as 
he  was  fitted  entered  King's  College  in  New  York. 
His  first  public  appearance  was  when  the  disagreement 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  began.  Al- 
though but  eighteen,  he  wrote  a  series  of  papers  in 
defense  of  the  rights  of  the  colonists,  which  were  so 
able  that  they  were  at  first  thought  to  have  been 
written  by  the  eminent  statesman  John  Jay,  and  they 
gained  him  the  notice  and  respect  of  the  patriot  leaders. 
During  the  Revolution  he  was  at  first  in  command 
of  a  company  of  artillery,  and  later  the  aid-de-camp 
and  trusted  friend  and  admirer  of  Washington.  In 
1782  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  the  same  year 
was  elected  a  representative  from  New  York  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  in  1786  a  member  of  the  New 
York  legislature,  and  in  1787  a  delegate  to  the  con- 
vention which  met  at  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  said,  to 
revise    the    old    Articles  of   Confederation,   but   which 


really  produced  the  Constitution  under  which  we  have 
since  lived. 

Hamilton  and  Madison  were  the  chief  authors  of  that 
instrument.  After  being  adopted  by  the  convention  it 
had  to  be  ratified  by  the  States  before  it  could  become 
the  law  of  the  land.  Several  States  were  opposed  to 
it,  New  York  among  them,  and  to  overcome  their  ob- 
jections and  silence  cavilers,  Hamilton,  Jay,  and  Madi- 
son wrote  a  series  of  masterly  state  papers,  which 
first  appeared  in  the  New  York  **  Daily  Advertiser," 
and  were  later  collected  and  published  as  **  The  Feder- 
alist." Of  the  eighty-five  papers  in  that  work  fifty-one 
were  written  by  Hamilton. 

When  the  new  government  went  into  effect  in  1789, 
Washington  appointed  Hamilton  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury, and  in  this  capacity  he  originated  the  fiscal  policy 
of  the  young  nation,  and  rescued  it  from  the  condition  of 
bankruptcy  and  ruined  credit  in  which  the  war  had  left 
it.  In  1 795  he  resigned  this  office  to  resume  the  practice 
of  the  law  in  New  York,  and  so  continued  until  his  death. 

In  New  York  the  popular  feeling  against  his  slayer 
was  for  a  time  intense.  Although  holding  the  exalted 
office  of  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  Burr 
was  indicted  for  murder,  and  would  probably  have 
been  arrested  had  he  remained  in  the  city.  Later,  as 
you  know,  he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  treason,  tried 
at  Richmond  in  Virginia,  and  acquitted,  but  fearing  a 
second  arrest,  fled  to  Europe.  Good  came  of  his  act, 
however,  for  it.  brought  dueling  into  disrepute,  and 
abolished  from  polite  society  that  savage  and  barbarous 
outgrowth  of  feudalism. 


212 

The  heated  contest  of  1800  taught  politicians  the 
power  of  party  discipHne,  and  led  to  the  birth  of  the 
present  Tammany  Society  as  a  political  organization. 
This  now  powerful  society  had  been  founded  in  i  789  by 
moderate  men  of  both  parties  as  a  patriotic  and  benevo- 
lent order,  with  a  view  also  of  counteracting  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  which  had  been 
founded  by  the  surviving  officers  of  the  Revolution  soon 
after  the  war,  and  which  many  thought  aristocratic  and 
unrepublican.  The  Tammany  Society  was  intended 
also  to  placate  the  Indians  and  protect  them  in  their 
rights.  To  this  end  it  was  named  after  a  famous  Indian 
chief,  Tammany,  and  adopted  Indian  names,  forms,  and 
ceremonies,  the  year  being  divided  into  seasons, — blos- 
soms, fruits,  and  snows, — and  the  seasons  into  moons. 
The  members  were  called  "braves;  "  the  officers  com- 
prised thirteen  *'  sachems "  (who  elected  a  '*  grand 
sachem"),  a  sagamore,  and  a  winkinskie.  John  Pin- 
tard  was  the  first  sagamore;  the  grand  sachem  in  1791 
was  Josiah  Ogden  Hoffman,  and  the  scribe  of  the  coun- 
cil De  Witt  Clinton.  In  the  spring  of  i  791  John  Pintard, 
the  real  founder  of  the  society,  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Bos- 
ton :  **  This  being  a  strong  national  society,  I  ingrafted 
an  antiquarian  scheme  of  a  museum  upon  it.  It  makes 
small  progress  with  a  small  fund  and  may  succeed.  We 
have  a  tolerable  collection  of  pamphlets,  mostly  modern, 
with  some  history,  of  which  I  will  send  you  an  ab- 
stract." 

This  ''museum"  became  in  1804  the  present  New 
York  Historical  Society,  and  its  collection  was  the 
nucleus  of  the  priceless  treasures  of  books,  pamphlets, 


213 

newspapers,  paintings,  relics,  and  ciirlos  now  owned 
by  that  society,  but  hidden  and  of  Httle  avail  because 
of  the  want  of  a  suitable  building  in  which  to  dis- 
play them. 

After  the  contests  of  1800  and  1804,  as  before  re- 
marked, Tammany  became  more  and  more  a  political 
organization,  and  has  since  almost  continuously  held 
political  control  of  the  city  of  New  York,  chiefly  because 
of  the  stern  discipline  and  admirable  political  machinery 
first  set  in  motion  by  Aaron  Burr  in  1800. 


.XVII.    HER   RISE  TO   COMMERCIAL  POWER. 

THE  genius  of  New  York  is  commercial  and 
financial ;  her  proud  position  as  metropolis  of  the 
western  continent  is  due  alike  to  her  merchants,  manu- 
facturers, and  financiers,  and  to  her  situation  on  an  is- 
land, with  a  great  navigable  river  on  one  side,  an  arm  of 
the  sea  on  the  other,  and  an  unrivaled  harbor  before. 
These  alone  would  have  made  her  a  queen  of  traffic 
even  if  the  genius  of  man  had  not  created  the  canal 
and  railroad  to  bring  to  her  warehouses  the  products 
of  the  mines,  fields,  and  forests  of  nearly  four  million 
square  miles  of  territory. 

Almost  immediately  on  gaining  her  freedom  the 
young  city  began  extending  her  commerce.  Trade 
with  England  and  her  colonies  revived.  The  starry  flag 
became  a  familiar  object  in  French,  German,  and  Russian 
ports.  In  a  few  years  New  York  had  won  her  share 
of  the  rich  trade  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  a  little  later 
competed  with  the  merchants  of  Salem  and  Boston  for 
the  priceless  fabrics,  the  gems,  teas,  and  spices  of  China 
and  India.  It  was  not  until  after  the  War  of  1 8 12-181 5, 
however,  that  she  began  that  marvelous  growth  and 
development  which  in  less  than  a  century  has  made  her 
the  second  city  of  the  world.  In  1783  she  had  23,000 
inhabitants;  in  1810,  95,000;  in  1898,  3,389,753.     This 

214 


215 


Clermont. 


growth,  in  addition  to  the  natural  causes  before  cited, 
has  been  brought  about  by  three  beneficent  genii  that 
about  1815  came  to  her  aid — the  steamboat,  the  canal, 
and  the  railroad. 

The  steamboat  came  first,  Fulton's  historic  Clermont 
having  been  the  first  to  make  a  successful  voyage.  She 
steamed  up  the 
Hudson  to  Albany 
in  1807,  frighten- 
ing half  out  of  their 
wits  the  simple 
countrymen  and 
river  men,  who 
thought  her  some 
grisly  visitor  from 
the  nether  world. 
Her  inventor,  Robert  Fulton,  was  one  of  the  greatest 
men  of  his  age.  Like  many  other  great  men,  he  was 
of  humble  lineage,  having  been  born  on  a  farm  in 
Little  Britain  (now  Fulton),  near  Lancaster,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  the  year  1765.  He  was  a  talented 
painter,  but  is  chiefly  remembered  for  his  inventions 
and  .  discoveries  in  mechanical  science — steamboats, 
torpedo  boats,  and  improvements  in  canals  and  canal 
boats.  Ferryboats,  and  the  movable  slips  into  which 
they  run,  were  among  his  most  notable  inventions. 

After  many  experiments,  trials,  and  failures  the  Cler- 
mont was  at  length  finished.  Then  it  was  advertised 
that  she  would  sail  for  Albany  on  her  trial  trip  on  the 
morning  of  August  1 1,  1807.  A  great  crowd  gathered 
at  the  dock  to  see  her  depart^  for  many  witticisms  had 


2l6 


been  launched  at  her  and  her  projector  while  she  was 
building,  and  few  believed  that  she  could  be  forced 
against  wind  and  tide  by  the  power  of  vapor  "  confined 
in  a  kettle."  But  the  (T/^rw^;// steamed  steadily  north- 
ward on  her  way  to  Albany,  and  those  who  had  come 

to  laugh  went  away 
to  wonder,  gossip, 
and   admire. 

Her  maiden  voy- 
age proved  a  com- 
plete success.  She 
arrived  at  "  Cler- 
mont," Mr.  Living- 
ston's country  seat,  a 
distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles, 
in  twenty-four  hours, 
and  at  Albany  in 
eight  hours  more, 
making  the  entire 
distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles 
in  thirty-two  hours, 
against  both  wind  and  tide.  Of  course  this  was  a  very 
slow  passage  compared  with  that  of  our  modern  palatial 
steamers  which  make  the  distance  in  a  night,  but  when 
set  over  against  the  time  of  the  packet  sloops — from 
four  to  seven  days — it  was  deemed  a  marvelous  achieve- 
ment. 

Fulton  had  two  powerful  friends  in  Joel  Barlow,  the 
poet   and   statesman,    and   Robert   R.    Livingston,   the 


Robert  Fulton. 


217 

former  of  whom  advanced  him  money  to  begin  his  ex- 
periments in  Paris,  while  the  latter  became  his  partner 
in  building  the  Clermont,  and  secured  for  her  owners 
the  exclusive  privilege  of  navigating  the  waters  of  New 
York  for  a  term  of  years. 

The  Ciennojit  at  once  began  making  regular  trips  to 
Albany  as  a  passenger  boat,  never  lacking  for  patron- 
age. Soon  rival  boats  were  built  and  placed  on  the 
river  in  defiance  of  the  exclusive  privilege  given  to 
Fulton  and  Livingston,  who  had  recourse  to  the  courts 
to  protect  their  rights.  By  1809  there  was  a  regular 
weekly  line  of  steam  packets  to  Albany.  By  181 3 
this  had  grown  to  a  triweekly  line,  the  boats  leaving 
New  York  every  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday 
afternoon. 

Meanwhile  inventors  were  busily  engaged  improving 
on  the  original  boat,  and  by  181  7  the  time  of  passage 
had  been  reduced  to  eighteen  hours.  In  18 18  the 
present  steamboat  service  on  Long  Island  Sound  was  be- 
gun, the  Fulton,  under  Fulton  and  Livingston's  j)atent, 
plying  between  New  York  and  New  Haven,  and  the 
Connecticut,  an  independent  boat,  making  regular  trips 
to  New  London.  In  1822  the  New  York  and  Provi- 
dence line,  the  nucleus  of  the  present  Sound  lines  to 
Boston,  was  formed.  By  1830  there  were  eighty-six 
steamboats  running  on  New  York  waters. 

A  year  before  this,  a  man  had  settled  in  New  York 
who  was  destined  to  become  a  great  factor  in  the  com- 
mercial development  of  the  city — Cornelius  Vanderbilt. 
He  had  been  born  at  Port  Richmond  on  Staten  Island 
thirty-five  years  before,  a  poor  boy,  but  strong  in  body 


2l8 


Cornelius  Vanderbilt. 


and  mind,  and  intent  on  rising  in  the  world.  At  six- 
teen he  had  saved  money  enough  to  buy  a  sailboat, 
and  with  it  opened  a  ferry  between  Staten  Island  and 
New  York.  The  venture  proved 
profitable,  and  at  eighteen  he 
owned  two  boats  and  had  saved 
one  thousand  dollars  in  money. 
The  steamboat  early  attracted 
his  attention.  The  traffic  would 
not  warrant  placing  one  on  his 
Staten  Island  route,  and  Fulfon 
and  Livingston  had  a  monopoly 
of  the  Hudson  and  the  Sound ; 
but  he  saw  that  a  line  might  be 
operated  to  New  Brunswick,  New 
Jersey,  there  connecting  with  stages  to  Philadelphia,  and 
in  1 817,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  with  nine  thousand 
dollars  in  the  bank,  he  joined  another  steamboat  finan- 
cier, Thomas  Gibbons,  in  building  a  small  steamer  to 
run  to  New  Brunswick.  When  he  left  this  line  in  1829 
it  was  paying  forty  thousand  dollars  a  year.  But  in 
1829  Fulton  and  Livingston's  monopoly  of  the  Hudson 
and  Sound  ceased,  and  Vanderbilt  saw  opening  before 
him  a  wider  field. 

He  removed  to  New  York,  and  entered  with  ardor 
on  the  business  of  transportation  in  New  York  waters, 
soon  making  his  presence  felt.  He  found  the  steamboat 
service  of  the  day  wretched,  the  boats  small  and  slow, 
the  cabins  filthy  and  ill  ventilated,  the  rates  of  fare  high. 
At  once  he  set  about  building  large,  new,  full-powered 
boats,  and  at  the  same  time  reduced  fares,  the  result 


219 


\ 

Daniel  Drew. 


being  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  practically  in  control 
of  the  Sound  and  river  traffic. 

His  success  naturally  raised  up  competitors, — Colonel 
John  Stevens,  Dean  Richmcnd,  Daniel  Drew,  kings  of 
finance     and      transportation, — but 
Commodore    Vanderbilt     distanced 
them  all.     Between  1829  and   1848 
he  owned  and  operated  nearly  fifty 
steamboats,  most  of  which  were  built 
for  him.     The   California  gold  ex- 
citement of  1849  led  him  into  ocean 
steamship  ventures,  and  he  founded 
an    opposition    line    to   that   of   the 
Pacific    Mail    Steamship    Company, 
the  prize  being  the  passenger  traffic  to  California  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien.     This  resulted  in  his  opponents 

buying  him  off,  as  there  was 
not  trade  enough  for  both. 

A  little  later,  in  1855,  he 
established  a  line  of  steamers 
from  New  York  to  Havre, 
France,  which,  being  larger, 
swifter,  and  better  appointed 
than  the  Collins  line,  then 
running  to  England,  soon 
gained  large  patronage.  This 
line  he  continued  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War,  in  i860,  swept  American  commerce  from  the 
ocean.  After  that  event  Mr.  Vanderbilt  turned  his 
attention  to  the  railroad,  the  great  rival  of  the  steam- 
boat and  canal. 


Dean  Richmond. 


XVIII.    THE    ERIE    CANAL. 

THE  second  chief  factor,  in  point  of  time,  in  the 
building  up  of  New  York  was  the  canal.  Fulton 
had  suggested  it  as  early  as  1786,  railroads  being  then 
unthought  of.  Washington,  George  Clinton,  and  El- 
kanah  Watson  early  advocated  a  canal  from  Albany  to 
the  Great  Lakes.  After  the  steamboat  was  invented, 
the  fact  that  boats  could  be  towed  by  steam  from  New 
York  to  Albany,  and  the  slight  elevation  of  the  divide 
between  the  head  waters  of  the  Mohawk  River  and  the 
basin  of  the  Great  Lakes,  no  doubt  first  suggested  the 
idea  of  a  canal  from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  which  should 
connect  the  Lakes  with  the  Atlantic,  and  give  to  New 
York  the  commerce  of  half  a  continent.  After  some 
private  agitation  the  project  was  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  New  York  legislature  in  1810-181 1,  but  was 
dismissed  by  that  body  as  being  beyond  the  resources 
of  New  York,  even  if  the  '*  big  ditch,"  as  its  opponents 
termed  it  in  derision,  could  be  dug.  In  181 5,  however, 
after  the  war,  with  the  revival  of  trade  and  the  marvel- 
ous development  of  the  West,  the  project  was  revived, 
this  time  by  the  merchants  of  New  York,  with  De  Witt 
Clinton,  then  mayor,  afterwards  governor,  at  their  head. 
A  meeting  was  held  at  the  City  Hall  in  the  autumn  of 
18 1 5,  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed,  with  Mayor 


22 


Clinton  as  chairman,  to  prepare  a  memorial  to  the  in- 
coming legislature  on  the  subject.  That  memorial, 
written  by  Clinton,  was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
far-reaching  in  its  effects  of  any  state  paper  of  the 
period.  It  pictured  in  glowing  terms  the  benefits  to 
State  and  city  of  the 
gigantic  undertaking 
It  would  make  tribu- 
tary to  them  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  empire 
of  the  Northwest  yet  to 
be.  Boats  laden  with 
the  products  of  that 
vast  region  would  pass 
through  it  in  endless 
procession.  Agriculture 
would  build  her  grana- 
ries, and  commerce  her 
storehouses,  along  its 
banks.  Great  manu- 
factories would  spring  up. 
mark  its  course. 

In  addition  to  these  predictions,  which  time  has  ful- 
filled in  every  particular,  the  paper  told  the  legislators 
how  to  build  the  canal,  what  the  cost  would  be,  and 
how  money  could  be  raised  to  meet  it. 

A  bill  chartering  it  was  introduced  in  the  legislature 
of  1817,  and  at  once  engaged  the  attention  of  the  whole 
State.  The  newspapers  were  filled  with  arguments /r^ 
and  coil.  Monster  mass  meetings  in  its  favor  were  held 
in  New  York  and  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  canal. 


De  Witt  Clinton. 


Towns   and    cities  would 


222 

In  the  legislature  there  was  much  opposition,  but  after 
a  stormy  debate  the  bill  was  passed  on  April  17, 
1817. 

On  July  4,  181 7,  ground  was  first  broken  for  the 
canal  at  Rome,  midway  between  the  two  termini. 
The  work  was  so  stupendous  that  it  appealed  to  the 
imagination  of  all  classes.  Most  of  the  right  of  way 
was  given.  The  wealthy  subscribed  to  the  stock;  the 
sturdy  yeomen  along  the  line  worked  with  willing  hands, 
looking  forward  to  the  bridal  of  the  sea  and  lakes,  and 
to  the  added  power  and  glory  of  the  State. 

By  1820  the  middle  section,  from  Utica  to  Rome, 
ninety-six  miles,  had  been  opened.  On  October  i, 
1823,  the  eastern  section,  from  Utica  to  Albany,  was 
completed,  and  in  1825  the  whole  canal  was  declared 
ready  for  traffic.  The  herculean  work,  that  its  oppo- 
nents said  would  require  the  labor  of  a  generation  and 
tax  the  financial  resources  of  a  nation,  had  been  com- 
pleted in  a  Httle  more  than  eight  years. 

The  people  determined  that  its  completion  should  be 
celebrated  in  a  fitting  and  proper  manner.  Perhaps 
there  was  more  poetry  and  sentiment  in  men's  minds 
then  than  in  this  utilitarian  age,  for  this  celebration 
was  certainly  one  of  the  most  original  and  dramatic  in 
the  history  of  peoples. 

At  precisely  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  26th 
of  October,  1825,  the  waters  ©f  Lake  Erie  rushed  into 
the  canal,  and  the  fleet  of  canal  boats  began  its  journey. 
At  the  same  instant  the  first  signal  gun  at  Bufi'alo  was 
fired.  Its  report,  repeated  by  relays  of  cannon,  swept 
over  the  broad  reaches  of  the  lake  basin  to  Rochester, 


223 

across  the  Genesee's  flats  to  Syracuse,  over  the  sixty- 
seven-mile  level  to  Utica,  and  down  the  beautiful  valley 
of  the  Mohawk  to  Albany.  At  1 1  A.M.  to  a  moment,  the 
grim  old  veteran  standing  to  his  piece  at  Castleton 
caught  the  signal  gun  from  Albany,  and  applied  his 
match.  Coxsackie  caught  it  at  1 1  :  03,  Hudson  one 
minute  later,  Catskill,  Upper  Red  Hook,  Rhinebeck, 
and  Hyde  Park  at  moment  intervals.  At  1 1  :  09  it 
reached  Poughkeepsie,  and  the  eaglet  on  Storm  King 
screamed  with  joy,  thinking  war  had  come  again. 
Hamburg,  Newburg,  West  Point,  Fort  Montgomery, 
Stony  Point,  Sing  Sing,  Closters  Landing,  Fort  Wash- 
ington, Fort  Gansevoort,  the  Battery,  Fort  Lafayette, 
received  it  in  succession  and  sent  it  thundering  on,  the 
last  station — Sandy  Hook — receiving  it  at  ii  :  21  A.M., 
twenty-one  minutes  after  it  left  Albany,  and  one  hour 
and  twenty-one  minutes  from  Buffalo.  This  did  not 
equal  the  speed  of  the   telegraph,  but  it  was  certainly 


Model  of  a  Canal  Packet  Boat. 

more  impressive  and  romantic.  At  twenty-two  min- 
utes past  eleven  o'clock  Fort  Lafayette  began  the  re- 
turn fire,  which  reached  Buffalo  at  ten  minutes  before 
one,  the  sound  having  traveled  over  eleven  hundred 
miles  in  less  than  three  hours. 

Let  us  return  to  the  four  pioneer  boats  which  at  the 
moment  of  the  inrushing    of   the   waters   began   their 


224 

journey  eastward.  First  came  the  Seneca  Chief,  drawn 
by  four  spirited  gray  horses  in  elegant  harness,  and 
following  her,  the  Superior,  the  Cominodord  Perry,  a 
freight  boat,  and  the  Buffalo  of  Erie.  They  bore  as 
invited  guests  a  distinguished  company — De  Witt  Chn- 
ton,  then  governor  of  New  York,  Lieutenant  Governor 
Tallmadge,  the  delegation  from  New  York  appointed 
to  extend  the  hospitalities  of  the  city  to  the  distin- 
guished company,  and  a  large  number  of  fair  women 
and  eminent  men. 

As  the  fleet  moved  slowly  along,  the  people  of  the 
entire  State  seemed  to  have  massed  themselves  on  the 
banks  to  greet  it. 

At  Rochester  the  canal  had  been  carried  over  the 
Genesee  River  by  a  massive  stone  aqueduct  of  nine 
arches,  each  of  fifty  feet  span.  At  the  entrance  to  this 
a  sentinel  boat  had  been  stationed,  and  as  the  fleet  ap- 
proached hailed  it. 

"  Who  comes  there  ?  " 

"  Your  brothers  from  the  West,  on  the  waters  of  the 
Great  Lakes,"  was  the  reply. 

"  By  what  means  have  they  been  diverted  so  far  from 
their  natural  course?  "  was  the  next  query. 

''  Through  the  channel  of  the  grand  Erie  Canal." 

"  By  whose  authority  and  by  whom  was  a  work  of 
such  magnitude  accomplished?"  asked  the  voice. 

''  By  the  authority  and  by  the  enterprise  of  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York,"  came  the  reply. 

The  sentinel  boat  then  gave  way,  and  allowed  the 
fleet  to  glide  over  the  aqueduct  and  enter  the  spacious 
basin  at  its  eastern  end  amid  the  cheers  of  thousands 


225 

and  welcoming  salutes  of  artillery.  Similar  demonstra- 
tions awaited  them  all  along  the  line. 

On  the  morning  of  November  4  the  fleet  was 
abreast  of  the  Palisades,  with  the  great  city  gleaming 
dimly  in  the  mellow  autumn  haze.  An  hour  later  it 
anchored  off  the  city,  and  soon  after  was  boarded  by  a 
committee  of  the  common  council,  which,  through  its 
spokesman,  Alderman  Cowdrey,  welcomed  the  party  to 
the  city.  Several  hours  later  a  great  naval  procession 
was  formed,  and  proceeded^o  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard, 
whence,  after  taking  on  board  officers  and  guests,  it 
steamed  out  to  sea. 

The  scene  at  this  moment  must  have  been  an  ani- 
mated one.  There  were  twenty-nine  steam  vessels  of 
all  sorts  in  line,  while  the  bay  was  covered  with  ships, 
frigates,  steamers,  barges,  and  other  craft,  each  be- 
decked with  bunting  from  trucks  to  keelson,  and  swarm- 
ing with  humanity,  while  both  shores,  the  heights  on 
the  north  and  east,  and  the  islands  of  the  harbor  were 
covered  with  applauding  spectators.  In  advance  was 
the  official  steamer  Washington,  with  the  mayor,  cor- 
poration, and  distinguished  guests  on  board.  As  the 
flotilla  neared  the  Narrows  it  was  met  by  a  graceful 
pilot  boat,  which  hailed  and  announced  that  it  had  been 
sent  by  Neptune  to  conduct  the  fleet  to  his  capital. 

That  capital  at  this  moment  was  the  United  States 
schooner  Porpoise,  anchored  just  within  Sandy  Hook, 
and  the  fleet  proceeded  to  surround  it,  forming  a  cir- 
cle some  three  miles  in  circumference.  Then  Nep- 
tune hailed  them  from  his  throne  and  put  the  usual 
questions  as  to  whence  they  came,  and  their  business 

TODD,   N.  Y.  — 15 


226 

there.  When  he  had  been  satisfied,  the  last  act  in  the 
pretty  drama  was  performed.  Governor  CHnton,  hand- 
some in  face,  manly  in  form,  gallant  of  spirit,  standing 


The  Ceremony  in  the  Bay. 

in  the  bow  of  the  Seneca  Chief,  took  a  keg  of  water 
which  had  been  brought  from  Lake  Erie,  and  holding 
it  aloft  in  full  view  of  all,  poured  its  contents  into  the 
sea,  saying: 

"  This  solemnity,  at  this  place,  on  the  first  arrival  of 
vessels  from  Lake  Erie,  is  intended  to  indicate  and  com- 
memorate the  navigable  communication  which  has  been 
accomplished  between  our  mediterranean  seas  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  in  about  eight  years,  to  the  extent  of 
more  than  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  by  the 
wisdom,  public  spirit,  and  energy  of  the  people  of  the 
State  of  New  York ;  and  may  the  God  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  smile  most  propitiously  on  this  work,  and 


227 

render  it  subservient  to  the  best  interests  of  the  human 
race." 

Dr.  Mitchill  then  poured  into  the  ocean  water  from 
the  Nile,  Indus,  Ganges,  Thames,  and  other  rivers,  and 
the  ceremony  was  complete. 

After  the  return  of  the  company  to  the  Battery  there 
was  a  great  land  procession,  and  the  corporation  further 
marked  the  day  by  issuing  a  large  number  of  medals 
in  gold,  silver,  and  white  metal. 

Thus  the  stupendous  work  was  completed,  and  began 
its  mission  of  building  up  a  commercial  metropoHs ;  for 
the  Erie  Canal  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in 
the  city's  marvelous  growth,  diverting  to  her  most  of  the 
crude  products  of  the  great  West,  and  distributing  there 
the  myriad  commodities  imported  by  her  merchants 
from  foreign  shores. 


XIX.    THE    RAILROAD. 

SIX  years  later,  in  1831,  a  competitor  appeared 
which  in  the  course  of  a  generation  was  destined 
wholly  to  supersede  the  canal  as  a  means  of  passenger 
transportation,  and  to  a  large  extent  in  the  moving  of 
freight,  although  the  lower  freight  tariff  by  water  still 
makes  the  influence  of  the  canal  felt.  In  1831  the 
first  railroad  in  New  York,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the 
United  States,  was  opened  between  Albany  and  Sche- 
nectady. 

A  year  later,  April  24,  1832,  was  chartered  the  first 
great  trunk  line,  the  Erie,  designed  to  open  communica- 
tion between  the  city  of  New  York  and  the  Great 
Lakes  through  the  southern  counties  of  the  State.  It 
was  not  until  185  i,  however,  that  this  colossal  enter- 
prise was  completed,  and  New  York  connected  by  rail- 
road with  the  prairies  of  the  West. 

-  During  the  same  period  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson 
Railroad  had  been  pushing  westward  from  Albany, 
under  various  names,  up  the  Mohawk  valley,  side  by  side 
with  the  canal,  until  in  1854,  by  the  completion  of  the 
Buffalo  and  Lockport  Railroad,  it  formed  a  continuous 
line  of  rail  from  Albany  to  Buffalo.  These  various 
roads  had  been  consolidated  into  one  in  1853,  under  the 
name   of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad.     The  latter 

228 


229 

was  consolidated  with  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  from 
New  York  to  Albany,  in  1869,  under  the  title  of  the 
New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  the  two 
roads  forming  the  second  great  trunk  line  between  New 
York  and  the  West.  Two  years  later  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  which  had  been  opened  from  Philadelphia 
to  Pittsburg  in  1854,  secured  control  of  the  united 
railways  of  New  Jersey,  and  formed  the  third  great 
trunk  line.  There  have  since  been  added  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio,  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  West- 
ern, the  Lehigh  Valley,  and  the  West  Shore,  making  in 
all  seven  trunk  lines  connecting  New  York  with  the  West 
and  South.  These  seven  great  highways,  with  her 
waterways,  her  geographical  position,  and  her  unex- 
celled harbor,  must  assure  to  New  York  future  com- 
mercial supremacy,  provided  her  merchants  have  the 
foresight  and  energy  to  take  advantage  of  them. 


.   XX.    TYPICAL   NEW   YORK   MERCHANTS. 


IN  the  winter  of  1 784  there  arrived  in  Baltimore  a 
fair-haired  German  youth  of  twenty-one,  with  a 
small  stock  of  goods  which  he  had  bought  in  London. 
He  had  no  other  capital  except  thrift,  energy,  good 
habits,  and  an  invincible  determination  to  succeed.      His 

name  was  John  Jacob 
Astor.  He  had  met  on 
shipboard  a  fellow-coun- 
tryman, by  trade  a  furrier, 
who  told  him  of  the  busi- 
ness opportunities  of  the 
fur  trade  even  for  men 
of  small  capital,  and  the 
young  adventurer  deter- 
mined to  become  a  fur 
merchant. 

He   accordingly  came 
on  to  New  York,  sold  his 


John  Jacob  Astor. 


goods,  and  with  the  proceeds  purchased  furs,  which  were 
bought  of  the  Indians  and  trappers,  who  still  came  to 
New  York  to  sell  the  products  of  their  winter's  toil. 
With  these  he  went  to  London,  sold  them  at  a  large 
profit,  and  returned  to  New  York  with  the  purpose  of 
learning  all  that  could  be  learned  about  the  fur  business. 

230 


231 

First  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a  furrier  and  mastered 
the  mechanical  part  of  the  trade.  A  few  years  later  he 
opened  a  store  of  his  own.  But  he  was  not  long  con- 
tent with  a  retail  tradesman's  position.  His  inquiring 
and  comprehensive  mind  reached  out  after  the  fur  trade 
of  North  America,  which  at  this  time  was  nearly  as 
valuable  to  the  English  as  the  gold  and  silver  of  South 
American  mines  had  been  to  the  Spanish. 

He  found  that  the  central  mart  of  furs  in  North 
America  was  Montreal,  Canada.  All  the  trade  in  furs 
of  that  vast  region  stretching  from  the  Great  Lakes  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  later 
called  the  Northwest,  had  been  first  carried  on  by  the 
French  traders  of  Canada,  when  that  country  belonged 
to  France.  After  the  British  conquest  the  trade  of 
course  fell  to  Englishmen. 

This  territory,  he  found,  was  now  (1790)  covered  by 
three  great  rival  companies :  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, chartered  in  1670  by  Charles  H.,  and  given  exclu- 
sive right  to  trap  and  trade  in  the  region  watered  by 
Hudson  Bay  and  its  tributaries ;  the  Northwest  Com- 
pany, founded  in  1787,  which  controlled  by  its  fortified 
trading  posts  the  whole  region  of  the  upper  lakes ;  and 
the  Mackinaw  Company,  younger  in  years,  whose  head- 
quarters were  on  Mackinac  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  whose  posts  cordoned  the  latter  lake  and 
stretched  along  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers  and  across 
to  the  very  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  The  fur- 
bearing  animals,  such  as  the  beaver,  mink,  otter,  fox, 
wolf,  and  muskrat,  were  then  trapped  by  the  Indians  and 
h^lf-breeds,  and  their  pelts  conveyed  to  the  company's 


232 

forts  to  be  exchanged  for  powder,  ball,  firearms,  blankets, 
trinkets,  calicoes,  and  other  goods  attractive  to  the 
Indian. 

Then,  once  a  year,  with  the  high  water  of  spring, 
great  fleets  of  canoes  and  boats,  filled  with  goods,  would 
set  out  from  Montreal,  ascend  the  Ottawa  River,  and 
thence  by  other  rivers  and  portages  reach  Lakes  Huron 
and  Superior  and  the  most  distant  posts,  exchange 
their  goods  for  furs,  and  return  with  the  latter  to 
Montreal. 

Having  possessed  himself  of  these  details,  our  merchant 
determined  as  soon  as  he  could  to  enter  into  this  country 
himself;  but  for  the  present  he  was  content  to  buy  his 
furs  in  Montreal  and  ship  them  thence  direct  to  London, 
Canada  being  at  that  time  forbidden  to  trade  with  any 
but  the  mother  country.  In  1795,  however,  England 
made  a  treaty  with  us  which  allowed  our  merchants 
to  trade  direct  with  Canada,  and  from  that  time  Mr. 
Astor's  furs  were  sent  direct  to  New  York.  Some  of 
them  were  reshipped  to  Europe,  some  sold  at  home, 
but  the  most  of  them  were  sent  to  China,  our  merchant 
being  a  pioneer  in  the  China  trade,  which  later  became 
so  extensive  and  profitable.  The  Chinese  prized  furs 
highly  and  were  willing  to  pay  handsomely  for  them, 
Mr.  Astor  would  therefore  ship  his  cargoes  of  fur  to 
Canton,  and  bring  back  in  return  tea,  silks,  chinaware, 
fireworks,  nankeens,  and  other  commodities.  These 
ventures  proved  immensely  profitable,  and  he  was  soon 
in  a  position  to  set  in  motion  his  scheme  of  an  Ameri- 
can fur  company  in  the  Northwest. 

The  Mackinaw  Company,  under  British  control,  con- 


233 

ducted  its  operations  almost  wholly  in  United  States 
territory.  Mr.  Astor  now  decided  to  occupy  this  field, 
and  instead  of  bringing  his  furs  half  across  a  continent 
and  then  shipping  them  around  Cape  Horn  to  China, 
to  ship  them  direct  from  a  port  on  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Our  government,  then  under  the  statesmanlike  Jeffer- 
son, heartily  approved  of  this  plan,  as  it  had  long  viewed 
with  alarm  the  influence  possessed  by  alien  trappers 
and  traders  over  the  Indian  tribes  in  our  territory. 

In  1809  the  State  of  New  York  chartered  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company,  with  a  capital  of  one  million  dollars, 
with  power  to  increase  it  to  two  million.  This  company 
was  really  John  Jacob  Astor,  he  owning  all  of  its  stock 
and  controlling  its  movements;  but  he  wished  the 
authority  of  a  State  charter  in  order  to  cope  with  the 
Mackinaw  Company,  a  wealthy  and  powerful  corpora- 
tion. He  at  once  entered  the  field  against  the  latter 
company,  but  the  rivalry  proved  so  intense,  and  the 
collisions  between  the  partisans  of  the  two  companies  so 
frequent,  that  in  181 1  he  bought  out  the  rival  company. 
He  would  now,  no  doubt,  have  been  very  successful 
had  not  the  war  of  18 12  with  England  broken  out  and 
stopped  further  operations  by  calling  the  hunters  and 
trappers  on  both  sides  to  arms. 

He  had  previously  conceived  a  grander  scheme,  that 
of  carrying  out  his  project  of  a  fur  company  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  In  18 10,  you  must  remember,  the  vast 
region  now  occupied  by  the  great  States  of  Oregon, 
Washington,  Idaho,  and  Wyoming  was  an  unknown 
wilderness.  The  famous  navigator  Captain  Cook,  dur- 
ing his  last  voyage,  1776-1779,  had  skirted  th?  Pacific 


234 

shore  and  reported  the  presence  there  of  sea  otter  in 
large  numbers.  Now,  the  fur  of  this  animal  was  highly 
prized  in  China,  and  by  1791  there  were  a  score  of 
vessels,  chiefly  from  Boston  and  Salem,  on  this  coast 
collecting  sea  otter  fur.  One  of  these  vessels,  the 
Columbia,  Captain  Gray,  of  Boston,  had  discovered  the 
great  estuary  of  the  Columbia,  and  had  sailed  up  that 
river  for  some  distance.  Captain  Gray  calling  it  after 
his  vessel,  the  Columbia;  but  none  had  ever  ascended 
to  its  fountain-head  amid  the  eternal  snows  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  a  thousand  miles  inland.  This  re- 
gion was  virgin  soil.  No  organized  company  had  ever 
obtained  a  foothold  there,  for  the  posts  of  the  Russian 
Fur  Company  were  far  to  the  northward.  Mr.  Astor 
now  proposed  to  establish  a  colony  of  trappers  and 
traders  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  with  posts 
stretching  back  to  its  sources  and  up  and  down  the 
coast,  the  whole  to  be  supplied  by  his  vessels,  which 
would  receive  in  return  the  furs  gathered  by  the  trap- 
pers, convey  them  to  China,  and  there  load  with  return 
cargoes  for  New  York. 

This  plan  he  proceeded  to  execute  with  his  accus- 
tomed energy.  With  Mr.  Wilson  Hunt  of  New  Jersey 
and  others  he  formed  the  Pacific  Fur  Company,  and  dis- 
patched a  large  ship,  the  Tonqiiin,  around  the  Horn  with 
everything  necessary  for  a  colony  and  for  the  Indian 
trade.  Three  of  his  partners  sailed  in  the  ship,  with  a 
number  of  colonists.  They  built  a  village  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia,  which  they  called  Astoria,  after  the 
founder,  and  the  enterprise  seemed  destined  to  succeed. 

But  it  was  the  victim  of  a  series  of  misfortunes,  which 


^3S 

in  the  end  led  its  founder  to  relinquish  it.  First,  the 
Tonqitin  was  captured  by  the  Indians  while  on  a  trad- 
ing voyage  to  the  northward,  and  all  of  her  crew  except 
five,  who  managed  to  escape,  were  massacred.  To 
avenge  their  loss,  Mr.  Lewis,  the  supercargo,  who  had 
been  seriously  wounded  and  left  on  the  ship,  blew  her 
up  while  the  Indians  were  dancing  and  feasting  on 
board. 

Mr.  Hunt,  who  had  left  Montreal  in  August,  1810, 
with  a  large  party,  to  come  overland,  reached  his  des- 
tination only  after  enduring  incredible  hardships  and 
suffering  the  loss  of  everything  but  life  itself.  A 
second  ship,  sent  out  in  181 1,  found  the  little  colony 
at  Astoria  in  good  health  and  spirits,  and  the  trading 
posts  which  had  been  established  well  equipped  and 
prosperous.  But  the  outbreak  of  the  war  soon  after  led 
Mr.  Astor  to  sell  his  whole  interest  on  the  Pacific  coast 
to  the  Northwest  Company  for  about  half  its  value. 
You  will  find  the  whole  romantic  and  interesting  story 
of  this  enterprise  graphically  told  in  Washington  Irving's 
''Astoria." 

Mr.  Astor's  later  ventures  were  not  of  such  national 
importance,  although  they  reached  to  the  remotest 
seas.  He  retired  from  commercial  life  about  twenty 
years  before  his  death,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
care  of  his  real  estate  interests,  which  had  grown  to 
large  proportions.  His  tastes  were  scholarly,  and  at 
his  modest  mansion,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Astor  House,  he  delighted  to  gather  about 
him  the  scholars  and  literary  men  of  his  day.  One  of 
these    was   Washington    Irving,    a   handsome,   graceful 


236 

youth,  a  lawyer  without  briefs,  who  in  1809  awoke  one 
morning  to  find  himself  famous  as  the  author  of  the 
"  History  of  New  York,  by  Diedrich  Knickerbocker." 
Another  of  these  guests  was  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  the 
poet  whose  "Marco  Bozzaris  "  you  have  so  often  de- 
claimed, and  who  was  employed  in  Mr.  Astor's  counting- 
house.  On  his  death  in  1848  Mr.  Astor  still  further 
showed  his  regard  for  letters  by  leaving  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  endowment  of  the 
Astor  Library. 

We  have  given  his  story  somewhat  in  detail  as  show- 
ing what  enterprises  of  moment  were  undertaken  by 
New  York  merchants  in  those  days. 

Another  striking  venture  of  this  period  was  that  of  the 
good  ship  Betsey,  which  in  1797  was  sent  on  a  voyage 
round  the  world  by  a  company  of  New  York  merchants, 
with  a  view  of  discovering  commercial  openings  in  the 
South  Seas  and  Pacific  Ocean.  The  Betsey  had  been  gone 
two  years  when,  in  I  799,  she  suddenly  appeared  in  the 
Narrows,  and  sailed  up  to  her  berth  at  the  Fly  Market 
wharf,  filled  to  her  hatches  with  tea,  silk,  chinaware, 
cassia,  and  nankeens,  and  with  her  crew  of  healthy 
young  sailors  paraded  on  deck,  clad  in  jackets  of  China 
silk,  yellow  nankeen  trousers,  and  bleached  chip  hats 
trimmed  with  blue  ribbons.  Every  man  before  the 
mast  received  one  thousand  dollars  and  costly  silks  for 
his  share  of  the  venture,  while  the  profits  of  the  prin- 
cipals were  fabulous.  This  voyage  led  to  the  rich  trade 
of  New  York  with  the  Orient. 

There  were  many  other  great  merchants  of  a  later 
period.      Rowland  &  Aspinwall  were  prominent  from 


237 

1 83 1  to  1840.  They  were  the  pioneers  in  the  Pacific 
trade,  and  did  the  largest  general  business  of  any  firm, 
with  the  Mediterranean,  England,  the  East  and  West 
Indies.  They  owned  a  fleet  of  seventeen  or  eighteen 
ships,  among  them  several  Liverpool  packets.  A  single 
cargo  of  theirs  sent  to  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America 


Broadway.  1840. 

was  often  worth  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
and  comprised  pretty  much  everything  from  a  cambric 
needle  to  a  hoop  pole,  the  minor  articles  being  packed 
in  small  barrels  to  go  on  mules'  backs  over  the  Andes. 
For  this  firm  was  built  one  of  the  first  of  the  famous 
clipper  ships  to  sail  out  of  New  York,  as  will  be  more 
fully  narrated  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

N.  L.  &  G.  Griswold  were  the  greatest  China  mer- 
chants of  this  period.  Their  ship  would  sail  from  New 
York  in  May  with  a  cargo  of  ginseng,  spelter,  lead,  iron, 
etc.,  worth  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  Spanish  dollars  in  specie,  reach 
Whampoa,  the  port  of  Canton,  in  due  time,  be  loaded 
by  her  supercargo  in  two  months  with  tea,  chinaware, 
and  cassia,  or  false  cinnamon,  but  principally  with  tea, 
and  return  to  New  York  within  the  year.  The  tea  cost 
thirty-seven  cents  a  pound  in  China,  and  paid  a  duty  in 


238 

New  York  of  seventy-five  cents  a  pound.  The  first  cost 
of  a  cargo  was  about  $200,000 ;  the  duties  and  expenses 
raised  it  to  $600,000.  The  cargo  would  be  sold  to  the 
wholesale  dealer  for  $700,000,  the  merchants  taking  his 
notes  for  four  and  six  months.  But  the  duties  were  not 
payable  until  nine,  twelve,  and  sometimes  eighteen 
months  after  entry,  so  that  the  importer  had  the  use  of 
nearly  $400,000  for  that  period,  in  addition  to  his 
profit  of  $100,000  on  a  cargo. 

This  was  the  usual  course  pursued  by  the  other  great 
China  merchants,  Astor,  Grinnell,  Minturn  &  Co.,  A.  A. 
Low  &  Brother,  Thomas  H.  Smith  &  Sons,  and  others. 
By  and  by  Smith  &  Sons  failed,  owing  the  government 
about  three  million  dollars  in  unpaid  duties.  The  loss 
of  this  amount  led  to  a  change  in  the  system. 

Other  great  merchants,  whose  names  were  towers  of 
strength  on  'change,  were  Goodhue,  Aymar,  Fish,  King, 
Boorman,  and  Stewart.  Henry  Grinnell  of  Grinnell, 
Minturn  &  Co.,  became  famous  for  his  interest  in  arctic 
exploration,  and  in  1850  fitted  out  at  his  own  expense 
an  expedition  to  go  in  search  of  Sir  John  FrankHn, 
which  discovered  and  named  after  him  Grinnells  Land, 
in  latitude  75°  24'  21''  N. 

The  founders  of  these  great  houses  were  in  almost  all 
cases  poor  boys  from  the  New  England  States  or  from 
foreign  countries.  So  often  was  this  the  case  that  it 
was  the  subject  of  general  remark.  A  shrewd  observer, 
Walter  Barrett,  in  his  ''  Old  Merchants  of  New  York," 
thus  wrote : 

'*  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  a  foreign-born  boy  or  one 
from  the  New  England  States  will  succeed  in  this  city 


239 

and  become  a  partner  in  our  largest  firms  much  oftener 
than  a  born  New  York  boy.  The  great  secret  of  their 
success  is  their  perfect  wilHngness  to  be  useful  and  do 
what  they  are  required  to  do,  and  cheerfully.  Take,  for 
instance,  such  a  firm  as  Grinnell,  Minturn  &  Co.  In 
their  countingroom  they  have  New  York  boys  and 
New  England  boys. 

"  Moses  H.  Grinnell  comes  down  in  the  morning  and 
says  to  John,  a  New  York  boy,  *  John,  take  my  overcoat 
up  to  my  house  in  Fifth  Avenue.'  John  takes  the  coat, 
mutters  something  about,  'I'm  not  an  errand  boy;  I 
came  here  to  learn  the  business,'  and  moves  reluctantly. 
Mr.  Grinnell  sees  it.  At  the  same  time  one  of  his  New 
England  boys  says,  '  I'll  take  it  up.'  'That's  right;  do 
so,'  replies  Mr.  Grinnell,  and  to  himself  he  says,  'That 
boy  is  smart,  will  work,'  and  he  gives  him  plenty  to  do. 
Very  soon  he  gets  promoted,  gains  the  confidence  of 
the  chief  clerk  and  of  his  employers,  and  eventually  gets 
into  the  firm  as  partner. 

"  It's  so  all  over  the  city.  It's  so  in  every  store, 
countingroom,  and  office.  Outside  boys  get  on  faster 
than  New  York  boys,  owing  to  two  reasons — they  are 
not  afraid  to  work,  or  to  run  of  errands,  or  do  cheer- 
fully what  they  are  told  to  do,  and  they  do  their  work 
quickly." 

There  are  golden  grains  of  wisdom  in  the  above  for 
town  boys  and  country  boys  alike. 


XXI.    SHIPS    AND    SAILORS. 

VERY  soon  after  the  centering  in  New  York  of  the 
great  highways  described  in  a  previous  chapter, 
there  were  founded  ocean  Hnes  to  distribute  throughout 
the  known  world  the  products  they  brought. 

The  first  of  these  shipping  enterprises  of  moment  was 
the  famous  packet  service  between  New  York  and  Liver- 
pool, England,  founded  in  1816  by  five  New  York  mer- 
chants—  Isaac  Wright  &  Son,  Benjamin  Marshall,  Fran- 
cis Thompson,  and  Jeremiah  Thompson.  Up  to  that  date 
the  merchantmen,  which  also  carried  passengers,  were 
of  French  and  British  ownership,  slow  sailers,  with  dingy, 
shabby  passenger  appointments,  and  with  no  regular 
hour  of  sailing,  leaving  when  loaded,  or  when  wind  and 
tide  served.  These  men  saw  that  ships  unrivaled  for 
size,  strength,  speed,  and  beauty,  and  sailing  on  a  regu- 
lar schedule  would  take  the  cream  o^  the  traffic,  and 
founded  the  famous  Black  Ball  line,  still  a  fountain  of 
happy  memories  to  the  old  sea  captains  and  merchants 
who  haunt  the  docks  and  shipping  offices  about  South 
Street  and  Burling  Slip,  or,  safely  moored  in  the  Sailors' 
Snug  Harbor,  talk  of  past  glories  and  adventures. 

At  first  this  line  boasted  but  four  ships,  later  in- 
creased to  twelve,  each  a  thing  of  beauty  and  an  object 
of  pride  to  the  American  heart.      One  of  them  sailed 

240 


UNIVERSITY  J 

regularly  on  the  ist  of  every  month.  They  were  so 
successful  that  in  1821  a  rival  line,  the  Red  Star,  was 
established  by  Byrnes,  Grimble  &  Co.,  with  four  ships, 
and  sailing  on  the  24th  of  every  month.  To  outdo 
them  the  Black  Ball  line  added  four  new  ships,  and  ad- 
vertised a  sailing  on  the  ist  and  i6th  of  every  month. 
Then  began  an  era  of  shipbuilding  and  mercantile  ex- 
pansion and  competition  such  as  the  port  had  never 
seen. 

Fish,  Grinnell  &  Co.  and  Thacfdeus  Phelps  &  Co.  soon 
founded  the  Swallowtail  line,  so  called  from  its  forked 
pennant,  with  departures  on  the  8th  of  every  month, 
and  New  York  papers  proudly  boasted  of  a  weekly 
packet  service  to  Liverpool.  All  these  packets,  you 
must  understand,  were  gallant  ships  of  from  six  hun- 
dred to  fifteen  hundred  tons  burden,  and  made  the  pas- 
sage out  from  New  York  in  twenty-three  days,  and  the 
return  in  forty.  Once  the  Canada  of  the  Black  Ball 
line  broke  the  record  by  making  the  outward  run  in 
fifteen  days  and  eighteen  hours.  In  1823  Grinnell, 
Minturn  &  Co.  established  a  London  line  with  sailings 
once  a  month.  A  line  witli  four  ships  to  Havre, 
France,  was  established  about  1822  by  Francis  Depau. 

These  packets  did  much  to  build  up  the  city  by 
shortening  and  cheapening  intercourse  between  her  and 
European  ports,  and  by  driving  the  clumsy  French  and 
English  traders  from  the  seas  they  threw  the  carrying 
trade  into  American  bottoms.  They  were  also  very 
profitable  to  their  captains,  agents,  and  builders,  for  each 
owned  a  share.  By  and  by  the  rivalry  became  so 
keen  that   larger  ships   were  built,   the   Palestine  and 

TODU,    N.  Y. — 16 


1\2 

Amazon,  of  eighteen  hundred  tons  each,  being  the 
largest  as  well  as  the  last  of  their  class.  It  is  a  tradi- 
tion of  South  Street  that  the  Amazon  once  made  the 
voyage  to  Portsmouth,  England,  in  fourteen  days,  a 
great  feat  for  a  sailing   vessel,   although   the   Patrick 


A  Clipper. 


Henry,  the  Montezuma,  the  Independence,  and  the 
Southampton  had  performed  the  voyage  to  Liverpool 
in  the  same  period. 

But  the  packets  were  destined  to  be  eclipsed  in 
beauty  and  speed  by  a  new  model,  also  distinctly 
American — the  clippers.  These  originated  in  Baltimore 
(according  to  some  authorities  ;  others  say  in  New  York) 
about  1840,  in  answer  to  a  demand  of  the  tea  merchants 
for  swift  ships,  even  though  of  less  carrying  capacity. 
It  was  found  that  tea  lost  in  fiavor  and  other  qualities 


243 

with  each  additional  day  spent  at  sea ;  besides,  a  cargo 
was  of  such  immense  value  that  every  day  represented 
a  large  sum  in  interest  and  insurance — hence  the 
demand  for  swift  ships.  The  first  clippers,  built  in 
New  York  by  Smith  &  Dimon,  were  ordered  by  those 
famous  China  merchants,  William  H.  Aspinwall,  N.  L. 
&  G.  Griswold,  and  A.  A.  Low  &  Brother,  and  were 
small,  swift  vessels  of  from  six  hundred  to  nine  hundred 
tons  burden. 

The  California  gold  excitement  of  1849  created  a 
demand  for  larger  ships,  and  ushered  in  the  golden 
age  of  the  clippers.  Provisions  and  machinery  for  the 
mines,  passengers'  baggage  and  outfits,  were  to  be 
forwarded  as  far  as  San  Francisco,  half  the  distance 
to  China,  and  created  a  demand  for  larger  carrying 
capacity.  New  York  shipbuilders  were  equal  to  the 
demand.  The  CJiallcnge  of  2,000  tons,  the  Invincible 
of  2,150  tons,  the  Comet  of  1,209  tons,  the  Sivord  Fish 
of  1,150  tons,  with  the  TornadOy  the  Flying  Cloudy  the 
Black  Squall,  and  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas,  soon 
appeared,  and  were  triumphs  of  the  shipbuilder's  art. 

Mr.  Sheldon,  in  an  article  on  the  old  clippers  in 
**  Harper's  Magazine  "  for  January,  1884,  has  given  so 
spirited  an  account  of  the  exploits  of  these  vessels  that 
we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  an  extract : 

"  That  clipper  epoch  was  an  epoch  to  be  proud  of ; 
and  we  were  proud  of  it.  The  New  York  newspapers 
abounded  in  such  headlines  in  large  type  as  these : 
*  Quickest  Trip  on  Record,'  '  Shortest  Passage  to  San 
Francisco,'  *  Unparalleled  Speed,'  *  Quickest  Voyage 
Yet,'    *  A    Clipper    as    is    a    Clipper,'    '  Extraordinary 


244 

Dispatch,'  *  The  Quickest  Voyage  to  China,'  '  The  Con- 
test of  the  Chppers,'  '  Great  Passage  from  San  Fran- 
cisco,' *  Race  Round  the  World.'  The  clipper  ship 
Surprise,  built  in  East  Boston  by  Mr.  Hall,  and  owned 
by  A.  A.  Low  &  Brother,  having  sailed  to  San  Fran- 
cisco in  ninety-six  days,  then  the  shortest  time  on 
record  (Mr.  W.  H.  Aspinwall's  Sea  Witch  had  run  the 
course  in  ninety-seven  days),  a  San  Francisco  journal 
said  :  *  One  of  our  most  distinguished  merchants  made  a 
bet  with  a  friend  some  weeks  since  that  the  Surprise 
would  make  the  passage  in  ninety- six  days,  just  the  time 
she  has  consumed  to  a  day.  Yesterday  morning,  full 
of  confidence,  he  mounted  his  old  nag  and  rode  over  to 
the  North  Beach  to  get  the  first  glimpse  of  the  looked- 
for  clipper.  The  fog,  however,  was  rather  thick  out- 
side, and  after  looking  awhile  he  turned  back  to  town, 
but  had  not  arrived  at  his  countingroom  before  he  heard 
that  the  Surprise  had  passed  the  Golden  Gate,  and  by 
eleven  o'clock  Captain  Dumaresq  was  in  his  old  friend's 
countingroom  on  Sansome  Street.  She  has  brought 
eighteen  hundred  tons  of  cargo,  which  may  be  esti- 
mated at  a  value  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Her  manifest  is  twenty-five  feet  long.' 

**  Her  greatest  run  was  two  hundred  and  eighty-four 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  she  reefed  her  topsails 
but  twice  during  the  voyage  of  16,308  miles.  She  soon 
left  San  Francisco  for  London  by  way  of  Canton,  and 
on  reaching  the  English  capital  her  receipts  for  freights 
had  entirely  paid  her  cost  and  running  expenses,  be- 
sides netting  her  owners  a  clear  profit  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars.    At  Canton  her  freight  for  London  was  engaged 


245 

at  six  pounds  sterling  a  ton,  while  the  English  ships 
were  taking  the  same  freight  at  three  and  four  pounds 
a  ton ;  and  this  was  the  second  season  that  the  prefer- 
ence had  been  given  to  American  ships  at  advanced 
rates,  their  shorter  passages  enabling  shippers  to  re- 
ceive prompt  returns  from  their  investments,  to  save 
interest,  and  to  secure  an  early  market." 

From  this  time  (1850)  until  the  Civil  War,  in  i860, 
swept  American  shipping  from  the  seas,  there  were 
many  famous  contests  between  rival  clippers.  In  1850 
the  Howqua,  Captain  Daniel  McKenzie,  made  the  trip 
from  Shanghai  to  New  York  in  eighty-eight  days. 
The  Samuel  Russell,  on  her  homeward  voyage  from 
Whampoa,  China,  in  1851,  made  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  miles  in  a  single  day, — thirteen  and  a  quarter 
miles  an  hour, — a  greater  speed  than  any  ocean  steamer 
had  at  that  time  attained.  For  thirty  days  in  succession 
she  averaged  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  a  day. 
On  another  voyage  to  Canton  she  sailed  three  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  miles  in  one  day,  and  on  her  return 
to  New  York  reported  her  own  arrival  out  at  Canton. 
Both  vessels  were  owned  by  A.  A.  Low  &  Brother  of 
New  York.  The  Flying  Cloud,  Captain  Josiah  P.  Creesy, 
made  the  voyage  to  San  Francisco  in  eighty-four  days, 
distancing  that  of  the  Surprise  by  twelve  days. 

Such  were  some  of  the  triumphs  of  American  clip- 
pers a  half  century  ago.  Steamships,  however,  soon 
became  formidable  rivals,  and  with  the  invention  of  the 
screw  propeller  have  nearly  driven  the  clippers  from 
the  sea.  Some  of  the  former,  with  their  exploits,  it 
will  be  interesting  to  describe. 


246 

The  first  steamer  to  cross  the  Atlantic  was  an  Ameri- 
can vessel,  the  SavannaJi,  which  sailed  from  Savannah, 
Georgia,  on  May  26,  18 19,  for  Liverpool,  England. 
She  was  built  in  New  York,  having  been  launched  in 
August,  18 18,  as  a  sailing  packet  to  run  between  New 
York  and  Liverpool.  As  she  came  from  the  ways  she 
was  bought  by  several  gentlemen  of  Savannah,  and,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Captain  Moses  Rogers,  fitted  up  as 
a  steamer,  with  paddle  wheels  so  contrived  that  they 
could  be  unshipped  and  shipped  at  pleasure.  Her 
masts  and  rigging  were  retained,  her  owners  not  having 
full  confidence  in  her  ability  to  make  her  way  wholly 
by  steam. 

She  made  her  trial  trip  from  New  York  to  Savannah 
and  back  in  April,  18 19,  using  both  steam  and  sail,  and 
on  her  return  to  Savannah,  in  May  of  the  same  year,  her 
owners  determined  to  send  her  overseas  to  Liverpool. 
Her  commander  was  Captain  Moses  Rogers,  her  navi- 
gator Stephen  Rogers,  both  natives  of  New  London, 
Connecticut.  She  carried  in  her  bunkers  seventy-five 
tons  of  coal  and  twenty- five  cords  of  wood,  and  made 
the  passage  in  twenty-six  days — eight  days  under  steam 
and  eighteen  under  sail. 

Stephen  Rogers,  her  navigator,  in  a  letter  to  the  New 
London  "  Gazette,"  wrote  that  the  SavannaJi  was  first 
sighted  from  the  telegraph  station  at  Cape  Clear,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Ireland,  which  reported  her  as  being 
on  fire,  whereupon  the  admiral  sent  a  king's  cutter  to 
her  relief.  **  But  great  was  their  wonder  at  their  inabil- 
ity to  come  up  with  a  ship  under  bare  poles.  After 
several  shots  had  been  fired  from  the  cutter  the  engine 


247 

was  stopped,  and  the  surprise  of  the  cutter's  crew  at  the 
mistake  they  had  made,  as  well  as  their  curiosity  to  see 
the  strange  Yankee  craft,  can  be  easily  imagined." 

As  she  steamed  up  the  Mersey  to  Liverpool  the 
wharves,  shipping,  and  roofs  of  the  houses  were  crowded 
with  people,  anxious  to  see  the  steamship  that  had 
crossed  the  ocean ;  and  while  she  remained  there  she 
was  visited  by  great  crowds,  including  merchants  and 
shipbuilders,  who  asked  many  questions  as  to  her  per- 
formances. 

From  Liverpool  she  proceeded  to  St.  Petersburg, 
calling  at  Stockholm  on  her  way,  where  she  was  visited 
by  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  also  by  **  the  American 
minister  and  lady,  and  all  the  foreign  ministers  and 
their  ladies."  She  sailed  from  St.  Petersburg  on  Octo- 
ber lo,  1 8 19,  and  reached  Savannah  on  November  30  of 
the  same  year. 

The  results  of  her  voyage  did  not  encourage  her 
owners  to  continue  her  as  a  steamship,  however.  Her 
boiler,  engines,  and  paddles  were  removed,  and  she  was 
placed  on  the  Savannah  route  as  a  packet  ship,  and  was 
finally  wrecked  on  the  Long  Island  cj:>ast. 

Other  successful  attempts  were  made  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  by  steam,  but  the  cost  was  too  great,  and  the 
"  steam  ferry  "  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  successfully 
established  until  the  voyages  of  the  Sirhis,  which  sailed 
from  Cork,  Ireland,  April  4,  1838,  and  reached  New 
York  on  April  23;  and  of  the  Great  Western,  which 
sailed  from  Bristol,  England,  four  days  after  the  Siriiis, 
and  arrived  in  New  York  the  same  day,  but  a  few  hours 
later. 


248 

These  boats  belonged  to  rival  companies,  that  had 
recently  been  formed  to  navigate  the  ocean  by  steam. 
The  Siriiis  was  sent  out  by  the  British  and  North 
American  Company,  which  had  been  organized  in 
London,  only  after  great  opposition  from  the  owners 
of  sailing  vessels  and  others,  by  Dr.  Junius  Smith, 
an  American  scientist  and  inventor.  This  company 
forthwith  contracted  with  Curling  &  Young  of  Black- 
wall  for  a  "  large  and  splendid  steamship,"  the  British 
Queen,  of  seventeen  hundred  tons  burden,  and  de-' 
signed  expressly  for  the  New  York  and  London  trade. 
Later  her  design  was  changed  to  twenty-four  hundred 
tons. 

Meantime  a  rival  company,  the  Great  Western  Steam- 
ship Company,  had  been  formed  at  the  suggestion 
of  Mr.  Brussel,  a  famous  engineer.  This  company 
began  building  the  Great  Western,  of  thirteen  hundred 
and  twenty  tons,  to  ply  between  Bristol  and  New  York. 
The  British  Queen  was  delayed  by  the  nondelivery  of 
her  engines,  and  her  owners,  fearing  that  the  rival  com- 
pany would  send  their  Great  Westei^n  first  into  the  field 
and  win  the  coveted  honor  of  making  the  initial  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic,  chartered  the  Sirius  and  sent  her 
out,  with  the  result  above  described. 

The  British  Queen  was  finally  completed,  and  made 
her  maiden  voyage  in  July,  1839,  crossing  from  London 
to  New  York  in  fourteen  and  a  half  days  without  mis- 
hap or  detention.  The  success  of  these  steamers  led 
the  companies  which  owned  them  to  build  others,  and 
soon  there  were  lines  of  steamers  leaving  New  York 
and  London  or  Liverpool  regularly.      A  prospectus  of 


249 

the  British  and  American  Steam  Navigation  Company 
issued  in  the  summer  of  1838  assured  the  public  that 
in  1839  they  would  be  able  to  dispatch  steamers  for 
New  York  on  the  ist  and  i6th  of  each  month  from 
London  and  Liverpool  alternately. 

In  1 839-1 840  Samuel  Cunard,  an  enterprising  mer- 
chant of  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  founded  the  famous 
Cunard  line,  which  has  been  in  steady  operation  ever 
since,  dispatching  vessels  regularly  from  New  York, 
Boston,  and  Halifax. 


XXII.    NEW  YORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

THROUGH  the  exciting  days  of  1860-1861,  when 
war  and  rumors  of  war  filled  the  air,  the  voice  of 
New  York  was  for  peace.  A  commercial  community, 
she  was  naturally  conservative,  and  averse  to  a  change. 
War  would  destroy  her  commerce.  Debts  to  the 
amount  of  millions  of  dollars  were  due  her  from 
Southern  merchants.  War  would  confiscate  every 
dollar.  Naturally,  as  the  great  conflict  drew  near,  her 
merchants  made  the  most  serious  efforts  to  ward  it  off. 
On  January  12,  1861,  a  memorial  signed  by  hundreds 
of  her  business  men  was  sent  to  Congress,  praying  that 
the  pending  troubles  might  be  settled  by  peaceful 
means.  On  the  18th  another  memorial  of  the  same 
tenor,  with  forty  thousand  names  attached,  was  in- 
dorsed at  a  meeting  held  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
and  forwarded  to  Washington.  Later  a  mass  meeting 
was  held  in  Cooper  Institute,  at  which  three  delegates 
were  appointed  to  confer  with  representatives  of  the  six 
States  that  had  already  seceded,  with  a  view  to  healing 
the  breach  by  concession  and  compromise.  At  the 
same  meeting,  with  the  same  object,  a  Peace  Society 
was  formed,  with  the  venerable  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse, 
the  inventor  of  the  telegraph,  as  president. 

Then  came  April  12,   1861.     The  old  flag  was  fl.red 

25Q 


on  at  Fort  Sumter,  and  fell  dishonored  before  the 
palmetto  standard.  In  a  moment  the  current  of  popu- 
lar feeling  in  New  York  changed.  Self-interest  with- 
ered. Patriotism  revived  and  became  uppermost. 
Democrats  vied  with  Republicans  in  sentiments  of 
loyalty  to  the  flag.  Eight  days  after,  at  a  great  mass 
meeting  held  in  Union  Square,  Fernando  Wood,  then 
mayor,  in  an  eloquent  speech,  declared  that  "  the  Union 
must  and  shall  be  preserved,"  notwithstanding  that 
the  January  previous  he  had  sent  a  message  to  the 
common  council  proposing  that  the  city  of  New  York 
herself  secede  from  the  rest  of  the  State.  The  air  was 
electric  with  military  ardor  and  patriotic  enthusiasm. 
Regiments  mustered  in  their  armories,  or  marched 
through  the  streets  to  the  sound  of  drum,  fife,  and 
bugle,  on  their  way  to  the  front.  The  great  poet  of  the 
city,  Bryant,  expressed  the  feeling  of  all  when  he  wrote  : 

"  Lay  down  the  ax,  fling  by  the  spade, 

Leave  in  its  track  the  toiling  plow  : 
The  rifle  and  the  bayonet  blade 

For  arms  like  yours  are  fitter  now. 
And  let  the  hands  that  ply  the  pen 

Quit  the  light  task,  and  learn  to  wield 
The  horseman's  crooked  brand,  and  rein 

The  charger  on  the  battlefield." 

On  the  1 8th  of  April,  1861,  the  gallant  Sixth  Massa- 
chusetts marched  through  the  city  on  its  way  to  the 
imperiled  capital,  and  added  to  the  excitement.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Dix,  an  eyewitness,  thus  described  the  attend- 
ant scenes : 

"  They  came  in  at  night,  and  it  was  understood  that 


252 

after  breakfast  at  the  Astor  House  the  march  would  be 
resumed.  By  nine  next  morning  an  immense  crowd 
had  assembled  about  the  hotel.  Broadway  from  Bar- 
clay to  Fulton  Street,  and  the  lower  end  of  Park  Row, 
were  occupied  by  a  dense  mass  of  human  beings,  all 
watching  the  front  entrance,  at  which  the  regiment  was 
to  file  out.  From  side  to  side,  from  wall  to  wall,  ex- 
tended that  innumerable  host,  silent  as  the  grave,  ex- 
pectant, something  unspeakable  in  their  faces.  It  was 
the  dread,  deep  hush  before  the  thunderstorm.  At  last 
a  low  murmur  was  heard  ;  it  sounded  somewhat  like  the 
gasp  of  men  in  suspense,  and  the  cause  was  that  the  sol- 
diers had  appeared,  their  leading  files  descending  the 
steps.  By  the  twinkle  of  their  bayonets  above  the 
heads  of  the  crowd  their  course  could  be  traced  out  into 
the  open  street  in  front.  Formed  at  last  in  column 
they  stood,  the  band  at  the  head,  and  the  word  was 
given,  '  March.'  Still  a  dead  silence  prevailed.  Then 
the  drums  rolled  out  the  time,  the  regiment  was  in 
motion,  and  then  the  band,  bursting  into  full  volume, 
struck  up — what  other  tune  could  the  Massachusetts 
men  have  chosen? — 'Yankee  Doodle.' 

*'  I  caught  about  two  bars  and  a  half  of  the  old  tune, 
not  more,  for  instantly  there  rose  a  sound  such  as  many 
a  man  never  heard  in  his  life,  and  never  will  hear,  such 
as  is  never  heard  more  than  once  in  a  lifetime.  Not 
more  awful  is  the  thunder  of  heaven,  as  with  solemn 
peal  it  smites  into  silence  all  lesser  sounds,  and  rolling 
through  the  vault  above  us,  fills  earth  and  sky  with  the 
shock  of  its  terrible  voice.  One  terrific  roar  burst  from 
the    multitude,   leaving    nothing   audible    save   its   own 


253 

reverberation.  We  saw  the  heads  of  armed  men,  the 
gleam  of  their  weapons,  the  regimental  colors,  all  mov- 
ing on  pageantlike,  but  naught  could  we  hear  save  that 
one  hoarse,  heavy  surge,  one  general  acclaim,  one  wild 
shout  of  joy  and  hope,  one  endless  cheer,  rolling  up  and 
down,  from  side  to  side,  above,  below,  to  right,  to  left 


Departure  of  the  Seventh  Regiment,  18c 


— the  voice  of  approval,  of  consent,  of  unity  in  act  and 
will.  No  one  who  saw  and  heard  could  doubt  how 
New  York  was  going." 

The  famous  Seventh  Regiment,  the  pride  of  New 
York,  was  but  a  few  hours  behind,  marching  at  3  P.M. 
on  the  19th,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-one  men  strong. 
"  Was  there  ever  such  an  ovation  ?  "  wrote  the  poet  and 
soldier   Fitz-James   O'Brien,    who    was    one    of    them. 


254 

"  The  marble  walls  of  Broadway  were  never  before 
rent  with  such  cheers  as  greeted  us  when  we  passed. 
The  facades  of  the  buildings  were  so  thick  with  people 
that  it  seemed  as  if  an  army  of  black  ants  were  march- 
ing, after  their  resistless  fashion,  through  the  city,  and 
had  scaled  the  houses.  Handkerchiefs  fluttered  in  the 
air  like  myriads  of  white  butterflies.  An  avenue  of 
brave,  honest  faces  smiled  upon  us  as  we  passed,  and 
sent  a  sunshine  into  our  hearts  that  lives  there  still." 

Next  day  the  Sixth,  Twelfth,  and  Seventy-first  em- 
barked for  Washington  by  way  of  Fortress  Monroe,  to 
avoid  Baltimore,  where  the  Massachusetts  men  had  met 
resistance,  and  on  April  23  the  Eighth,  Thirteenth, 
Twenty-eighth,  and  Sixty-ninth  took  up  the  line  of 
march. 

Meantime  the  city  authorities  and  the  citizens  had  not 
been  idle.  The  common  council  appropriated  one 
million  dollars  to  aid  in  carrying  on  the  war.  Gener- 
ous private  subscriptions  were  given  to  equip  and  care 
for  the  soldiers.  Thirteen  banks  in  New  York  alone 
gave  nearly  one  million  dollars.  In  ten  days  New  York 
city  sent  eight  thousand  men  to  the  front. 

To  care  for  these  troops  and  their  families,  defend 
the  city,  and  aid  the  government,  a  Union  Defense 
Committee  was  soon  organized,  with  the  Hon.  John  A. 
Dix,  who  had  been  a  member  of  President  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  as  chairman.  This  committee  during  the  war 
aided  in  organizing  and  equipping  forty-nine  regiments, 
containing  some  forty  thousand  men,  and  disbursed  a 
million  dollars  in  aiding  the  city's  soldiers  and  their 
families. 


255 

The  loyal  women  of  the  city,  not  to  be  outdone  by 
their  brothers,  organized,  in  1861,  a  Woman's  Central 
Relief  Association,  which  soon  had  branches  in  all  of 
the  Northern  States.  The  ladies,  however,  found  that 
they  needed  government  aid  and  sanction  to  render 
their  society  effective,  and  at  their  request  Secretary  of 
War  Stanton  created  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, "  for  inquiry  and  advice  in  respect  to  the 
sanitary  needs  of  the  United  States  forces."  This 
commission  comprised  six  competent  gentlemen,  with 
the  Rev.  Henry  W.  Bellows,  a  famous  Unitarian  clergy- 
man of  New  York,  as  president,  and  under  its  authority 
the  ladies,  with  rare  energy  and  enthusiasm,  worked. 
It  is  said  that  the  New  York  branch  collected  and  sent 
to  the  army  during' the  four  years  of  war  fifteen  million 
dollars'  worth  of  supplies  and  five  million  dollars  in 
money.  The  same  year,  following  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Vincent  Colyer,  a  well-known  artist,  the  Christian 
Commission  was  organized  in  New  York,  to  attend  to 
the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  soldiers.  Shortly 
before  this  Miss  Dorothea  L.  Dix  had  offered  her  serv- 
ices to  the  government  as  a  nurse  in  the  hospitals,  and 
became  the  head  of  the  American  Order  of  Florence 
Nightingales,  a  body  of  devoted  women,  who  served 
their  country  quite  as  faithfully  by  loving  and  gratuitous 
service  in  the  hospitals  as  did  their  brothers  on  the 
field. 

In  May,  1863,  there  came  sad  reverses  to  the  Union 
arms.  Hooker  had  been  defeated  by  Lee  at  Chancel- 
lorsville,  and  the  latter  had  carried  the  war  into  Africa 
by  invading  Pennsylvania.     To  fill  up  our  decimated 


256 

armies,  President  Lincoln,  the  same  month,  ordered  a 
draft  of  three  hundred  thousand  men.  There  was  at 
this  time  a  great  body  of  evil-disposed  men  in  New  York, 
with  whom  the  war  was  unpopular,  and  who  had  sworn 
to  resist  such  a  draft  if  ordered.  This  the  State  and 
city  authorities  knew  perfectly  well,  but  no  steps  seem 
to  have  been  taken  to  guard  against  such  an  uprising; 
instead  the  city  as  well  as  the  State  militia  was  hur- 
ried off  to  swell  the  armies  confronting  Lee.  Only  the 
police  force,  a  handful  of  regulars,  and  a  few  members 
of  the  invalid  corps  were  left.  The  draft  was  ordered 
for  Saturday,  July  1 1,  1863,  and  began  in  the  Eleventh 
and  Ninth  districts,  without  disturbance  of  any  sort. 
Next  day,  Sunday,  seems  to  have  been  used  to  foment 
trouble. 

On  Monday  morning  the  wheel  was  set  in  motion  at 
the  enrolling  offices  at  677  Third  Avenue  and  11 90 
Broadway,  and  the  draft  continued  until  noon,  when  it 
was  stopped  because  of  disturbances  in  the  city.  At 
about  ten  o'clock  that  morning  John  A.  Kennedy, 
superintendent  of  police,  was  set  upon  by  the  rioters 
at  the  corner  of  Lexington  Avenue  and  Forty-sixth 
Street,  and  would  probably  have  been  beaten  to  death 
but  for  the  aid  of  an  influential  friend.  Almost  instantly 
the  mob  grew  to  threatening  proportions,  and  surrounded 
the  Police  Headquarters  on  Mulberry  Street  in  a  mena- 
cing way.  President  Acton  at  once  took  command,  and 
by  telegraph  called  out  the  entire  police  force,  which 
assembled  at  its  respective  station  houses,  and  for  three 
days  struggled  with  the  greatly  superior  forces  of  the 
mob.     Third  Avenue  at  this  time,  from  Cooper  Institute 


257 


to  Forty-sixth  Street,  was  black  with  human  beings. 
Many  other  streets  presented  a  similar  appearance. 
Small  bodies  of  police,  when  encountered,  were  driven 
off  or  trampled  under  foot.  Growing  bolder,  the 
rioters  broke  open  stores,  fired  houses,  and  inaugurated 
a  carnival  of  crime. 

The  negroes  they  hated  especially,  because  they  con- 
sidered that  they 
were  the  cause  of 
the  war.  These, 
wherever  found, 
whether  men, 
women,  or  chil- 
dren, were  seized 
and  hanged  to 
the  nearest  lamp- 
posts. By  and 
by  a  large  body 
of  the  rioters 
swooped  down 
upon  the  Colored 
Orphan  Asylum, 
on  Fifth  Avenue, 
between  Forty- 
third  and  Forty-fourth  streets.  Two  hundred  helpless 
children  were  gathered  there,  but  while  the  mob  was 
breaking  in  the  front  doors,  they  were  hurried  out  by 
the  rear,  and  found  safety  in  neighboring  houses.  The 
rioters,  finding  that  their  prey  had  escaped,  applied  the 
torch  to  the  house  in  twenty  places  at  once,  and  burned 
it  to  the  ground. 

TODD,   N.  Y.  — 17 


The  Draft  Riot. 


258 

Five  thousand  men  now  set  out  for  Police  Head- 
quarters, breathing  threats  of  slaughter  against  the 
police.  To  meet  them  President  Acton  detailed  two 
hundred  men,  under  Sergeant  Daniel  Carpenter,  who 
proved  himself  an  able  commander  as  well  as  a  brave 
soldier.  Sending  detachments  up  the  parallel  streets, 
he  led  a  column  down  Bleecker  Street  to  Broadway,  and 
charged  the  mob  in  front,  while  the  detachments  took 
them  in  flank  and  rear,  and  scattered  them  like  chaff. 

That  night  it  became  evident  that  the  situation  was 
critical,  and  Mayor  Opdyke  called  on  General  Wool, 
commanding  the  regulars,  for  aid,  and  also  on  General 
Sandford,  commanding  the  State  National  Guard. 
Wool  detailed  Colonel  Harvey  Brown,  of  the  Fifth 
Artillery,  with  all  the  men  he  could  muster,  who  took 
post  at  PoHce  Headquarters,  while  General  Sandford, 
with  seven  hundred  men,  occupied  the  State  Arsenal,  on 
the  corner  of  Seventh  Avenue  and  Thirty-fifth  Street. 

For  two  days  the  mob,  met  by  the  bullets  and 
bayonets  of  the  troops,  fought  and  gave  way,  or  scat- 
tered and  extended  the  region  of  disturbance  northward 
to  Harlem  and  westward  to  Sixth  Avenue.  There 
were  many  hand-to-hand  conflicts,  but  at  length,  on  the 
third  day,  the  force  being  increased  by  the  ordering 
home  of  the  city  regiments,  discipline  prevailed,  and  at 
midnight  the  telegraph  reported  all  quiet. 

One  thousand  of  the  rioters  had  been  killed  and 
many  more  wounded. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  an  ovation  to  the  veterans,  who 
returned  with  tattered  banners  and  honorable  scars, 
closed  the  record  of  the  Civil  War. 


XXIII.    AN  OLD    MAN'S   RECOLLECTIONS 
OF   NEW  YORK. 

SOMETIMES  we  have  the  pleasure  of  strolling 
along  Broadway  with  a  highly  respected  friend, 
an  old  gentleman  of  eighty-five,  who  is  still  alert  and 
vigorous,  and  brimming  over  with  recollections  of  old 
times,  when  he  was  young. 

"Strange,"  said  he,  one  morning,  "but  the  most 
vivid  of  my  boyhood  impressions  are  of  the  Broadway 
stages,  which  were  first  put  on  about  1830.  Four  fine 
horses  drew  them,  and  there  was  a  Jehii  above  who 
knew  how  to  handle  the  ribbons.  All  the  stages  were 
painted  in  the  brightest  colors,  and  properly  named  as 
'Lady  Clinton,'  'Lady  Washington,'  'The  Knicker- 
bocker,' etc.  They  left  the  Battery  hourly  for  Green- 
wich, Harlem,  Bloomingdale,  and  Manhattanville,  and 
no  fare  was  collected  till  the  end  of  the  route.  I  seem 
to  hear  this  moment  the  drivers  calling,  'Manhattanville, 
ma'm,'  '  Right  away  for  Yorkville,'  and  so  on. 

"  Down  there  at  the  corner  of  West  Broadway  and 
Franklin  was  Riley's  Fifth  Ward  Museum  Hotel,  the 
Eden  Musee  of  my  youthful  days.  On  its  walls,  and  in 
glass  cases,  were  original  portraits  of  great  warriors  and 
statesmen,  decorated  with  their  swords  and  portions  of 
their   uniforms.     There    were    also    curiosities — a  two- 

259 


26o 


Broadway  Stages. 


headed  calf,  a  pig  that  had  killed  a  man  by  butting  him 
off  a  bridge,  one  of  the  Hawaiian  clubs  that  had  dashed 
out  the  brains  of  Captain  Cook,  General  Jackson's  pipe, 
Tecumseh's  rifle,  and  many  relics  of  colonial  days  in 
New  York. 

**  What  interested  us  boys  most,  because  it  brought 
back  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  was  a  headless  and 
armless  statue  of  William  Pitt,  the  very  one  that  the 
patriots  of  New  York  raised  on  the  steps  of  the  Royal 
Exchange,  in  1 766,  to  celebrate  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  and  which  British  soldiers  mutilated  in  the  war, 
because  the  patriots  had  carried  off  the  leaden  statue  of 
George  III.,  which  stood  on  the  Bowling  Green,  and 
melted  it  up  for  bullets.      Over  there  on  the  Hudson,  at 


26 1 


the  foot  of  the  present  Houston  Street,  was  a  great 
swamp,  where  I've  roosted  pigeons  many  a  time,  and 
Minetta  Brook,  that  flowed  through  it — never  were  there 
such  trout  as  I  caught  there  in  my  schoolboy  days." 

When  we  came  to  Canal  Street  my  friend  looked  up 
and  down  its  wide  vista  longingly. 

"  Here  I  lived  as  a  boy,"  he  said  at  last.     '*  It  was  the 


Canal  Street  and  Broadway. 

fashionable  street  of  the  city  in  1 820-1 830.  Beginning  in 
1809,  a  canal  was  dug  through  the  marshes  to  the  North 
River,  for  draining  the  great  pond,  called  the  Collect, 
on  the  present  site  of  the  Tombs.  A  street  was  laid 
out  on  each  side  of  this  canal,  with  a  double  row  of 
beautiful  shade  trees,  the  whole  forming  a  noble  thor- 
oughfare one  hundred  feet  wide,  the  present  Canal 
Street.  Many  of  the  old  Knickerbocker  families  settled 
there,  the  lawns  of  their  fine  mansions  extending  to  the 
street,  and  their  flower  and  vegetable  g^ardens,  pastures 


262 

and  meadows,  stretching  back  into  the  country.  We 
boys  had  our  canoes  on  the  canal  in  summer  and  skated 
there  in  winter.  It  seems  as  though  there  are  no  such 
maidens  nowadays  as  sailed  and  skated  with  us  on  that 
dear  old  canal." 

Here  our  venerable  friend  paused  and  looked  through 
the  maze  of  buildings  toward  the  southeast. 

'*  Down  there,"  said  he,  "where  the  hide  and  leather 
men  now  have  their  mart,  lay  another  great  swamp  in 
my  father's  day.  In  the  rear  of  the  Harpers'  great 
establishment,  he  told  me,  he  had  often  shot  duck  and 
trapped  mink  and  otter. 

*' In  1825,  while  I  was  still  a  boy,  it  was  all  open 
country  above  Astor  Place — forest  and  swamp,  farms 
and  farmhouses,  apple  orchards  and  gardens.  On  the 
present  site  of  Grace  Church  stood  a  high,  peaked 
barn,  and  above  it,  up  to  the  powder  house  (now  Union 
Square),  were  but  two  dwellings — old  stone  farmhouses 
with  long,  sloping  roofs  and  dormer  windows.  A  little 
south  of  the  present  site  of  the  Astor  Library  were  the 
Vauxhall  Gardens,  reaching  through  from  Broadway  to 
the  Bowery,  and  beautifully  laid  out  with  flowers,  lawns, 
trees,  and  shrubbery,  where  a  band  played  on  summer 
nights,  and  polite  New  York,  as  well  as  the  commonalty, 
came  to  see  the  fireworks  and  to  partake  of  ice  cream, 
cakes,  and  ale.  Farther  north,  in  the  apex  of  the  tri- 
angle made  by  the  junction  of  Third  and  Fourth 
avenues,  stood  Peter  Cooper's  grocery  store,  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Cooper  Institute,  and  many  a  penny 
have  I  exchanged  there  for  the  seductive  jackson  ball 
or  taffy. 


263 

*'  Bleecker  Street  was  my  great  blackberry  preserve 
when  a  boy.  What  luscious  berries  grew  beside  its 
walls,  and  wild  roses — none  such  bloom  nowadays.'' 

Another  day  we  began  at  the  City  Hall,  and  went  for 
a  stroll  down  Broadway  to  the  Battery,  and  around  by 
the  East  River  docks,  where  the  few  sailing  ships  that 
remain  are  moored. 

"The  City  Hall,"  he  began,  "was  opened  in  1812, 
having  been  nine  years  in  building.  That  was  one  year 
before  I  was  born.  It  stood  between  two  prisons,  I 
remember,  the  Bridewell  and  the  jail.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  park,  on  Chambers  Street,  were  the  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts,  founded  in  1808,  with  Chancellor  Living- 
ston as  president,  and  the  famous  painter  John  Trum- 
bull as  vice  president,  and  the  almshouse.  A  space 
farther  east  was  the  Rotunda  of  John  Vanderlyn,  where 
people  went  to  see  pictures  as  now  they  go  to  the 
National  Academy  or  Fine  Arts  Building.  Vanderlyn 
was  a  notable  artist  in  my  day,  and  one  of  the  pets  of 
society.  His  '  Marius  amid  the  Ruins  of  Carthage  * 
had  taken  the  prize  at  the  Paris  Salon,  and  he  returned 
to  New  York  a  famous  man.  To  encourage  art  the  city 
built  the  Rotunda,  and  gave  Vanderlyn  the  lease  of  it 
for  a  studio  and  for  the  exhibition  of  his  pictures. 

"  On  the  southeast  side  of  the  park,  near  the  site  of 
the  present '  Sun  '  building,  stood  the  old  Park  Theater, 
the  fashionable  place  of  amusement  of  my  day,  where  I 
saw  Edmund  Kean  and  Charles  Mathews  and  other 
actors,  and  such  assemblages  of  fair  women  and  brave 
men  as  are  rarely  seen  nowadays.  This  theater  was 
burned  on  the  morning  of  May  25,  1820,  but  John  Jacob 


264 

Astor   and  John   K.    Beekman   rebuilt    it    on    the    old 
site   in   much  handsomer   style. 

"  Tammany  Hall  then  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the 
park,  at  the  corner  of  Frankfort  Street.  Aaron  Burr, 
who  returned  to  New  York  quietly  in  1812,  and  in  a 
week  held  retainers  to  the  amount  of  twenty  thousand 


Tammany  Hall. 

dollars,  had  an  office  in  the  hall,  and  was  understood  to 
be  one  of  its  ruling  spirits. 

**  The  south  side  of  the  park  was  then  for  the  most 
part  covered  with  low  wooden  buildings,  in  which  were 
cigar  stores,  fruit  shops,  beer  saloons,  and  the  like. 
The  present  giants  of  the  press  that  later  took  posses- 
sion of  so  large  a  space  of  it  were  then  unknown.  I 
have  seen  them  grow  from  infancy.  The  *  Sun  '  was 
founded  first,  in  1833,  next  the  'Herald'  in  1835,  the 
'  Tribune  'in  1 84 1 ,  the  *  Times '  in  1 85 1 ,  and  the  '  World ' 
in  i86q. 


265 

"  Lower  Broadway,"  my  friend  continued,  **  was  in 
my  day  almost  as  crowded  and  noisy  as  now.  I  saw 
traffic  blocked  at  the  corner  of  Fulton  and  Broadway 
in  boyhood,  and  the  policemen  stationed  there  were 
kept  quite  as  busy  then  as  now. 

"  The  street  venders  were  almost  as  numerous  then, 
too,  but  of  a  different  character.  Some  sold  hot  corn 
on  the  ear;  some  sold  baked  pears  swimming  in  mo- 
lasses; others,  in  long  white  frocks,  peddled  Rockaway 
sand  in  two-wheeled  carts.  Colored  men  hawked 
bundles  of  straw  for  filling  beds,  and  an  old  blind  man 
sold  door  mats  made  of  picked  tarred  rope.  There 
were  men  who  made  fortunes  by  supplying  the  people 
with  '  tea  water '  at  two  cents  a  pail,  from  clear,  cold 
springs  in  the  upper  part  of  the  island.  Before  Croton 
water  came  in  1842,  you  know,  we  were  dependent  for 
water  on  wells,  cisterns,  and  springs. 

"  We  had  bogy  men,  too,  that  our  mothers  and 
nurses  frightened  us  with,  just  as  now  they  use  the 
sandman.  There  was  the  *  limekiln  man,'  so  called 
because  he  slept  in  the  limekilns  around  Gansevoort 
Street,  and  went  about  in  shabby  clothes  white  with 
lime,  forever  muttering  to.  himself.  There  was  the 
*  blue  man,'  with  face  bluish  in  color,  and  a  man  who 
in  the  coldest  weather  walked  the  streets  ^yithout  an 
overcoat." 

By  this  time  we  had  arrived  at  the  Battery. 

"  I  am  rejoiced,"  said  he,  *'  to  see  this  park  of  my 
boyhood  reclaimed  and  made  once  more  a  beautiful 
place.  In  my  day  it  was  the  fashionable  promenade  of 
the  city.     The  old  fort^  which^  I  see,  they  have  uncovered 


266 


and  turned  Into  an  aquarium,  then  pointed  grim  guns 
seaward  through  its  embrasures.  We  called  it  Fort 
Clinton.  It  was  built  about  1807,  when  our  troubles 
with  England  and  France  pointed  to  war;  and  when 
war  with  England  finally  came  in  18 12,  it  formed  one 
of  the  defenses  of  the  city.      Later  it  was  turned  into  a 


Castle  Garden 


summer  resort,  called  Castle  Garden,  with  concerts  and 
other  attractions.  I  heard  Jenny  Lind  there  in  1850, 
when  she  made  her  first  appearance  in  America  under 
the  auspices  of  the  great  P.  T.  Barnum.  It  was  on 
Wednesday,  September  11,  and  four  thousand  people 
crowded  into  the  garden  to  hear  her  sing. 

"  It  is  historic  ground,  this  Battery.  From  it  the 
British  took  their  departure  in  i  783,  and  Washington 
set  out  for  Paulus  Hook  on  his  way  to  Virginia,  and 
here  we  received  Lafayette  on  his  second  visit  to  this 
country  In  1824.  Lafayette  arrived  on  the  French 
packet  Cadimis  from  Havre,  and  was  met  down  the 
harbor   by  the  city  fathers,  with,   our    handsonie    and. 


267 

scholarly  mayor,  William  Paulding,  at  their  head.  Next 
day  the  city  held  a  holiday  in  his  honor.  At  nine  in 
the  morning  the  city  officials,  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, and  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  proceeded  to 
Staten  Island,  where  Lafayette  had  spent  the  night  as 
the  guest  of  Vice  President  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  and 
escorted  to  New  York  the  man  whom  the  whole  coun- 
try delighted  to  honor,  because  he  had  fought  for  her  in 
the  Revolution,  and  had  later  performed  great  services 
for  liberty  and  humanity  in  his  own  country. 

**  The  brilliant  company  landed  here  at  a  carpeted 
stairway,  over  which  rose  an  arch  decorated  with  laurel 
and  the  flags  of  all  nations.  I  saw  Lafayette,  a  small, 
delicate  man,  with  fine,  clear-cut  features  and  the  erect 
and  martial  air  of  the  soldier,  and  I  can  hear  again  the 
salvos  of  artillery  and  the  cheers  of  thousands  that 
greeted  him  as  he  set  foot  on  the  stairway.  After 
saluting  the  people  in  return  he  entered  a  carriage,  to 
which  four  horses  were  attached,  and  was  driven  to  the 
City  Hall,  where  he  was  formally  welcomed  by  Mayor 
Paulding." 

During  another  stroll  my  friend  spoke  of  the  im- 
provements and  inventions  he  had  seen  come  into  use. 
Gas,  street  cars,  Croton  water,  the  elevated  road,  tele- 
phone, district  messenger  service,  parks,  elevators — he 
had  seen  them  all. 

"People  began  talking  about  gas  in  181 7,"  he  said. 
"  It  had  been  used  by  David  Murdoch  to  light  a  house 
in  Redruth,  Cornwall,  England,  as  early  as  1792,  but 
came  into  use  slowly.  The  first  mains  were  laid  in 
Broadway  in  1825.     Before  that  we  used  tallow  dips 


268 

and  whale  oil  lamps.  I  well  remember  how  timid 
people  hesitated  about  allowing  the  mysterious  new 
agent  to  come  into  their  houses.  Up  to  1852,  nine 
years  before  the  war,  we  had  no  street  cars,  only  stages 
and  omnibuses.  There  were  twenty-four  lines  of  these 
in  185  I.  The  first  street  car  line  opened  was  the  Sixth 
Avenue,  in  1852,  and  so  great  a  convenience  did  it 
prove  that  they  rapidly  multiplied.  The  elevated  roads 
did  not  begin  running  until  1876,  the  Ninth  Avenue  line 
being  completed  that  year  as  far  as  Fifty-ninth  Street. 
In  June,  1878,  the  Sixth  Avenue  line  was  opened  from 
Rector  Street  to  Central  Park;  in  August  of  the  same 
year  the  Third  Avenue  line  was  opened  to  Forty-second 
Street;  and  in  1880  the  Second  Avenue  line  to  Sixty- 
seventh  Street.  The  same  year  the  lines  on  both  sides 
of  the  city  reached  Harlem. 

*'  Croton  water  dates  only  from  1842.  An  agitation 
for  pure  water  began  in  1831.  Up  to  that  time  we  had 
used  water  from  wells  and  springs,  which,  with  the 
growth  of  the  city,  began  to  be  rendered  impure  by 
sewage,  and  produced  much  sickness.  Many  men 
turned  an  honest  penny  by  bringing  water  in  carts  from 
the  upper  part  of  the  island.  Robert  L.  Stevens,  a 
famous  engineer  of  that  day,  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to 
suggest  the  Croton  watershed  for  a  supply.  A  large 
party  was  in  favor  of  the  Bronx.  Many  surveys  were 
made,  many  plans  broached  and  discussed.  At  last  a 
board  of  engineers  reported  in  favor  of  an  aqueduct 
fifteen  miles  long  to  take  Croton  water  near  the  mouth 
of  that  river,  and  deliver  thirty  million  gallons  daily  at 
a  distributing  reservoir  on  Murray  Hill. 


269 

"  The  legislature  ordered  a  vote  of  the  people  to 
decide  whether  this  should  be  done,  and  as  this  was 
overwhelmingly  in  favor,  the  engineers  at  once  began 
the  stupendous  work.  Croton  Lake  was  first  staked 
out,  and  the  course  of'  the  aqueduct  from  the  dam  to 
the  Harlem  laid  out.  At  this  point  Major  David  B. 
Douglas,  the  engineer  in  charge,  had  a  difficulty  with 
the  chairman  of  the  board  of  commissioners,  and  was 
retired,  John  B.  Jervis,  an  engineer  and  inventor  of 
merit,  who  had  assisted  in  building  the  Erie  Canal,  being 
appointed  in  his  place ;  but  Major  Douglas's  plans  were 
retained.  For  several  years  the  great  work  went  on 
section  after  section  being  completed,  the  legislature 
authorizing  the  money  to  pay  for  each  as  it  was  finished. 
A  dam  was  thrown  across  the  Croton,  deep  ravines 
were  crossed,  lofty  hills  tunneled,  an  aqueduct  bridge 
across  the  deep  valley  of  Sing  Sing  built,  and  another, 
the  present  High  Bridge,  over  the  Harlem.  On  June 
22,  1842,  the  work  was  practically  complete  from  the 
Croton  to  the  distributing  reservoir  at  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Forty-second  Street,  except  that.  High  Bridge  not  being 
finished,  the  water  was  carried  for  the  time  being  by 
siphon  pipes  under  the  Harlem  River. 

"  On  June  22  water  was  for  the  first  time  let  into  the 
canal,  and  a  small  boat,  called  the  Croton  Maid,  carry- 
ing four  persons,  was  sent  through  it.  On  June  27 
water  was  admitted  to  the  receiving  reservoir  at  York- 
ville  in  the  presence  of  the  governor  of  the  State,  the 
mayor,  common  council,  and  many  other  dignitaries  of 
the  city,  and  on  July  4,  with  similar  ceremonies,  to  the 
distributing  reservoir. 


270 

"  On  the  succeeding  14th  of  October  the  people  cele- 
brated the  event.  New  York  had  never  seen  such  a 
splendid  pageant,  which  far  surpassed,  it  is  said,  that  at 
the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1825.  The  governor 
and  other  State  officers,  members  of  Congress,  foreign 
consuls,  mayors  of  other  cities,  were  present,  and  took 
part  in  the  great  parade,  which  stretched  from  one  end 
of  the  city  to  the  other.      At  the  City  Hall  President 


City  Hall  Park. 


Stevens  made  a  formal  transfer  of  the  aqueduct  to  the 
city,  artillery  thundered  in  honor  of  the  event,  and  the 
new  fountain  in  City  Hall  Park  sent  its  pearly  column 
sixty  feet  into  the  air. 

*'  You  can  scarcely  believe  that  until  1857,  four  years 
before  the  Civil  War,  we  had  no  parks  worthy  of  the 
name,  the  Battery  and  City  Hall  Park  being  really  the 
city's  only  breathing  places.  In  1853,  as  a  result  of 
two  years'  agitation,  the  legislature  authorized  the  city 
to  take  the  land  between  Fifty-ninth  and  One  Hundred 
and  Sixth  streets  and  Fifth  and  Eighth  avenues  for  a 


271 

public  park ;  later  the  northern  line  was  extended  to 
One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street.  The  tract  was  then  a 
wilderness  of  crag,  swamp,  pestilential  pool,  and  rocky- 
ravine,  covered  with  unsightly  hovels,  stables,  and  other 
nuisances.  On  April  17,  1857,  an  act  passed  the  legis- 
lature which  named  the  proposed  new  park  Central 
Park,  and  created  a  board  of  eleven  commissioners  for 
laying  it  out.  This  board  advertised  for  plans,  and 
from  the  thirty-three  submitted  chose  that  of  two 
young  landscape  architects,  Frederick  Law  Olmsted 
and  Calvert  Vaux,  as  the  best.  Their  plan  provided 
for  a  broad  driveway  so  constructed  as  to  make  as  long 
and  beautiful  a  road  as  possible,  winding  in  and  out 
amid  lakes,  forests,  glens,  cascades,  meadows,  and  pas- 
tures. A  small  army  of  workmen  was  engaged,  and, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  two  gentlemen  above 
named,  converted  the  unsightly  waste  into  the  beauti- 
ful earthly  paradise  we  now  know. 

"  Riverside  Park  was  acquired  1 869-1 872,  and  Morn- 
ingside  Park  soon  after.  But  the  city  was  now  fully  alive 
to  the  beauty  and  necessity  of  these  breathing  places,  and 
in  1883,  soon  after  the  annexation  of  the  Westchester 
County  towns,  the  legislature  appointed  a  commission 
to  secure  lands  for  public  parks  above  the  Harlem.  This 
commission  reported  in  1884,  and  the  legislature  then 
provided  for  the  laying  out  of  Van  Cortlandt,  Bronx, 
Pelham  Bay,  Crotona,  Claremont,  and  St.  Marys  parks, 
which,  with  their  connecting  parkways,  stretch  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  Sound,^  and  give  New  York  a  system 
of  public  parks  equaled  by  no  other  city  in  the  world." 

1  For  a  fuller  description  of  these  parks  see  Chapter  XXVII. 


XXIV.    A    HUNDRED  YEARS    OF   PROGRESS. 

WHEN  the  British  left  New  York  in  1783,  a  line 
drawn  from  Catherine  Street,  on  the  East  River, 
across  the  island  to  the  foot  of  Reade  Street,  on  the  Hud- 
son, would  have  inclosed  the  city.     The  streets  were 


Oldtime  Mansion,  Washington  Square. 


irregular,  the  houses  of  red  brick,  mostly  with  tiled 
and  pointed  roofs.  Wall  Street  was  wide  and  elegant. 
Broadway  was  the  fashionable  quarter.  In  i  795  sewers 
were  first  introduced.  In  1800  the  town  boasted  sixty 
thousand  inhabitants.      By  1825  the  city  had  reached 

272 


273 

Bleecker  Street.  In  184.3-1844,  after  the  introduction 
of  Croton  water,  a  new  era  of  progress  began.  Fash- 
ionable New  York  escaped  from  its  modest  dwelHngs 
downtown,  and  began  to  build  houses  of  far  greater 
pretension  uptown.  Some  of  these  mansions  you  may 
still  see  in  Washington  Square,  Waverley  Place,  Bond 
Street,  and  lower  Fifth  Avenue,  which  then  became 
the  fashionable  quarter.  Shrewd  observers  now  noted 
in  the  people  a  much  nearer  approach  to  the  European 


"  Brownstone  began  to  be  used." 

Style  of  living.  "  The  number  of  servants  in  livery  in- 
creases," wrote  Lydia  Maria  Child,  the  poetess,  about 
this  time.  **  Foreign  artistic  upholsterers  are  being  im- 
ported. There  will  soon  be  more  houses  furnished 
according  to  the  taste  and  fashion  of  noblemen  in  New 
York  than  in  Paris.  Furniture  for  a  single  room  often 
costs  ten  thousand  dollars." 

By  1850  the  city  had  reached  Thirty-fourth  Street 
on  the  north,  and   covered  the   ground   from   river  to 

TODD,   N.   Y.—  18 


^)\ 


river.  Yorkville,  Bloomingdale,  and  Manhattanville  were 
still  lovely  pastoral  villages  in  the  open  country.     By 

1856  the  popula- 
tion had  reached 
six  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand. 
Brownstone  in- 
stead of  red  brick 
began  to  be  used 
for  building  about 
this  time.  People 
lived  in  their  own 
houses,  and  not 
in  apartments  or 
hotels.  Tene- 

ments were  few, 
and  French  flats 
wholly  unknown. 
The  streets  were 
badly  paved  and 
lighted,  and,  be- 
ing rarely  cleaned,  emitted  the  odors  of  the  streets  of 
Cologne.  New  York  was  metropolitan  only  in  its  com- 
merce.    This  state  of  affairs  continued  until  1865. 

During  the  war  New  York  made  little  progress,  but 
with  the  return  of  peace  she  awoke  from  her  slumbers, 
and  entered  upon  an  era  of  enterprise  that  in  a  genera- 
tion transformed  her  into  a  metropolis.  In  1865  the 
country  above  Forty-second  Street  was  a  wilderness  of 
forest  and  crag,  of  ungraded  and  unpaved  streets,  with 
the  squatter's  cabin  perched   on  every  available  emi- 


■», 

i 

J, 

-jiiaaJ 

^  of'; 

m 

pi 

•^'■''vii 

B   '' 

ijlji 

11 

H 

A  Scene  on  Broadway,  1898. 


275 

neiice.  Rapid  transit  being  then  unknown,  and  street 
cars  few,  people  could  not  reach  the  upper  part  of  the 
island,  and  New  York  expanded  in  the  direction  of 
Brooklyn,  New  Jersey,  and  Staten  Island.  In  1865 
there  was  scarcely  a  six-story  building  in  the  city.  The 
Astor  House  was  one  of  the  most  notable  structures, 


The  Brooklyn  Bridge. 


and  was  the  most  elegant  hotel  in  New  York.  Most  of 
the  houses  were  two  and  three  stories  high,  but  the 
invention  of  the  elevator  made  the  present  towering 
structures  possible. 

The  demand  for  cheaper  homes  and  rents  led  also  to 
the  building  of  the  East  River  Bridge,  a  company  to 
build  it  being  incorporated  by  the  legislature  in  1867, 


1^6 


with  John  A.  Roebling  as  chief  engineer.      In  January, 
1870,  work  was  begun  on  the  foundations  for  the  towers. 

John  A.  RoebHng, 
the  great  engi- 
neer, died  before 
his  grand  concep- 
tion was  realized, 
and  his  equally 
gifted  son,  Wash- 
ington A.  Roeb- 
ling, took  up  the 
work  and  carried 
it  to  completion. 
The  bridge  was 
completed  and 
dedicated  with 
appropriate  cere- 
monies on  May 
24,  1883,  thirteen 
years  after  the 
work  began . 
Meantime  New  York  was  pushing  her  way  northward 
toward  the  Harlem.  The  first  ten  years  after  the  war 
were  marked  by  reckless  speculation,  especially  in  real 
estate,  a  mania  greatly  stimulated  by  the  Tweed  Ring,^ 
which  came  into  power  during  this  period. 

1  This  ring  was  formed  by  William  M.  Tweed,  a  politician  of  the  city, 
who,  after  filling  various  minor  oflices,  became  chairman  of  the  board  of 
supervisors  and  deputy  street  commissioner,  an  office  which  put  him  in 
control  of  the  city's  public  works.  The  ring's  methods  were  simple  but 
shrewd  :  for  everything  done  for  or  furnished  to  the  city  a  sum  ranging  from 
sixty  to  eighty-five  per  cent  more  than  the  real  cost  was  charged  in  the 


Wall  Street. 


277 

In  1870  New  York  had  64,044  houses  and  942,292 
inhabitants.  The  desire  for  expansion  and  the  certainty 
of  rapid  transit  by  the  elevated  railroads  led  to  the 
annexation  in  1873  of  the  three  towns  of  Morrisania, 
West  Farms,  and  Kingsboro,  in  Westchester  County, 
above  the  Harlem,  which  movement  carried  the  city's 
northerly  boundary  line  to  Yonkers,  and  added  thirteen 
thousand  acres  to  her  area.  By  act  of  the  legislature 
of  1895  Westchester,  Eastchester,  Pelham,  and  Wake- 
field (South  Mount  Vernon)  w^ere  annexed,  adding 
twenty  thousand  acres  more,  and  carrying  her  boundary 
line  eastward  to  the  city  of  Mount  Vernon. 

bills,  the  excess  being  divided  among  the  members  of  the  ring.  Tweed 
added  to  the  prevailing  mania  by  projecting  public  improvements  of  every 
sort  on  a  large  scale.  Detection  and  punishment  came  to  the  conspira- 
tors at  last.  In  1871  copies  of  the  fraudulent  bills  came  into  possession 
of  the  New  York  "  Times,"  which  gave  them  to  the  public  in  double- 
leaded  columns.  Other  members  of  the  press  ably  seconded  the  "  Times," 
and  a  committee  of  seventy  was  formed  to  bring  the  rogues  to  justice. 
Most  of  the  latter  fled  to  Europe.  Tweed  remained,  was  arrested,  tried, 
and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  on  Blackwells  Island,  from  which,  in 
1875,  his  friends  procured  his  release  on  bail ;  but  he  was  at  once  re- 
arrested on  a  civil  suit  to  recover  six  million  dollars  alleged  to  have  been 
stolen  from  the  city  treasury.  Not  being  able  to  find  the  bail  required, — 
three  million  dollars, — he  was  lodged  in  Ludlow  Street  Jail,  whence  he 
shortly  after  escaped  and  fled  to  Spain.  The  Spanish  authorities  de- 
livered him  up  at  our  request,  however ;  he  was  brought  back,  tried  on  the 
civil  suit,  and  a  verdict  of  $6,537,000  returned  against  him  by  the  jury. 
Being  unable  to  pay  this,  he  was  thrown  into  jail,  and  there  died  in 
January,  1878. 


XXV.     GREATER  NEW  YORK. 

IT  would  be  difficult  to  decide  who  first  publicly- 
advocated  a  union  of  New  York  with  Brooklyn  and 
neighboring  towns  on  Long  Island  and  above  the 
Harlem.  Ex-Comptroller  Andrew  H.  Green,  because 
of  his  earnest  and  persistent  advocacy  of  it,  has  been 
called  the  father  of  the  movement.  Practically  the 
interests  of  these  towns  and  of  New  York  were  the 
same,  and  it  was  believed  that  with  a  wider  territory 
government  would  be  less  costly,  and  the  formation  of 
rings  and  cliques  to  control  patronage  would  be  more 
difficult.  The  question  first  took  tangible  shape  when 
the  legislature  of  New  York,  in  1890,  created  a  commis- 
sion "'  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  the  proposed 
consolidation,  and  to  submit  a  report  with  recommen- 
dations." Andrew  H.  Green  of  New  York  was  presi- 
dent of  this  commission,  and  J.  S.  T.  Stranahan  of 
Brooklyn  vice  president;  there  were  also  nine  other 
members,  chosen  impartially  from  the  cities  and  towns 
interested. 

This  commission  presented  a  bill  to  the  legislature  of 
1893,  submitting  the  question  to  a  plebiscite,  or  vote  of 
the  people  of  the  districts  interested.  The  bill  was  not 
acted  on  at  that  time,  however,  but  the  next  legislature 
— that  of    1894 — passed  it,  and  the  people,  when  the 

278 


2/9 

question  came  before  them,  voted  in  favor  of  it,  that  is, 
all  except  the  city  of  Mount  Vernon,  the  town  of  West- 
chester, and  the  township  of  Flushing.  To  the  legis- 
lature of  1895  the  commission  presented  a  report,  and 
with  it  a  bill  declaring  the  districts   affected — with  the 


Wharves,  East  Shore  of  Manhattan. 

exception  of  Mount  Vernon — a  part  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  But  the  bill  failed  to  pass,  because  of  the  adop- 
tion of  an  amendment,  at  the  closing  hours  of  the  ses- 
sion, referring  the  whole  matter  back  to  the  people.  As 
a  result  of  the  movement,  however,  the  legislature  at  this 
session  annexed  the  towns  of  Westchester,  Eastchester, 
Pelham,  and  some  other  parts  of  Westchester  County 
to  New  York.      But  the  matter  was  not  allowed  to  rest. 


28o 


The  legislature  of  1896  appointed  a  joint  committee  of 
four  senators  and  five  assemblymen  to  inquire  into  the 

matter  and  report 
not  later  than  March 
11,1896.  This  com- 
mittee, through  its 
chairman,  Senator 
Lexow,  reported  in 
favor  of  consolida- 
tion, and  also  a  bill 
to  effect  it,whichbill 
passed  theSenateby 
avote  of  thirty-eight 
to  eight,  and  the  As- 
sembly by  a  vote  of 
ninety-one  to  fifty- 
six,  and  this  despite 
strenuous  opposi- 
tion by  prominent 
citizens  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn.  It  was  then  submitted,  accord- 
ing to  law,  to  the  mayors  of  New  York,  Brooklyn, 
and  Long  Island  City  (the  cities  interested),  was 
vetoed  by  Mayor  Strong  of  New  York  and  by  Mayor 
Wurster  of  Brooklyn,  and  approved  by  Mayor  Gleason 
of  Long  Island  City.  The  measure  then  went  back 
to  the  Assembly,  and  was  a  second  time  passed  over  the 
vetoes  of  the  two  mayors,  and  was  signed  by  Governor 
Morton  on  May  11,  1896,  thus  becoming  a  law.  Sec- 
tion I  of  this  act  defined  the  bounds  of  the  territory 
to  be   added   to  New  York,  viz.,  the  county  of  Kings 


Hotel  Waldorf-Astoria,  New  York. 


28l 

(Brooklyn),  the  county  of  Richmond  (Staten  Island), 
the  city  of  Long  Island  City,  the  towns  of  Newtown, 
Flushing,  Jamaica,  and  that  part  of  the  town  of  Hemp- 
stead which  is  westerly  of  a  straight  line  drawn  from 
the  southeasterly  point  of  the  town  of  Flushing,  through 
the  middle  of  the  channel  between  Rockaway  Beach  and 
Shelter  Island,  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Section  3  provided  for  a  commission  of  fifteen 
persons, — the  president  of  the  commission  of  1890,  the 
mayors  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Long  Island  City, 
the  State  engineer,  surveyor,  and  attorney-general,  and 
nine  other  persons, — to  be  appointed  by  the  governor,  to 
draft  a  charter  or  form  of  government  for  the  enlarged 
city.  This  commission,  of  which  Benjamin  F.  Tracy  was 
president  and  George  M.  Pinney,  Jr.,  secretary,  sub- 
mitted a  charter  for  the  greater  city  to  the  legislature 
of  1897,  which,  after  amendments  by  that  body,  was 
adopted  and  approved  by  Governor  Black  May  2,  1897. 

As  qitizens  of  New  York  we  are  interested  in  this 
charter,  which  prescribes  the  government  under  which 
we  shall  live,  no  doubt,  for  many  years.  By  examining 
it  closely  we  shall  see  that  it  difTers  considerably  from 
former  charters.  One  great  point  of  difference  is  that  it 
adopts  the  borough  system  of  government,  after  the 
English  fashion.  There  are  five  of  these  boroughs,  viz., 
the  borough  of  Manhattan,  which  includes  the  old  city  of 
New  York,  on  Manhattan  Island  and  the  adjacent 
islands;  the  borough  of  the  Bronx,  which  includes  the 
annexed  district  above  the  Harlem  and  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek,  and  the  islands  adjacent ;  the  borough  of  Brook- 
lyn,   comprising    the    whole   of    Kings    County ;     the 


282 

borough  of  Queens,  including  that  part  of  Queens 
County  named  in  the  act  of  annexation ;  and  the 
borough  of  Richmond,  which  comprises  all  of  Staten 
Island. 

The  government  is  vested  in  a  mayor  and  a  municipal 
assembly  of  two  chambers — a  council  composed  of 
twenty-nine  members,  who  are  elected  for  four  years, 
and  a  board  of  aldermen  of  sixty  members,  who  are 
elected  for  two  years.  The  president  of  the  council  is 
elected  by  the  entire  city,  but  the  other  twenty-eight 
members  are  chosen  by  districts.  There  are  five  of 
these  districts  in  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx,  each  of  which  chooses  three  councilmen,  and 
three  in  the  borough  of  Brooklyn,  which  choose  the 
same  number,  while  the  boroughs  of  Queens  and  of 
Richmond  are  each  represented  by  two  members. 

The  aldermen  are  chosen  by  assembly  districts,  each 
of  the  sixty  assembly  districts  of  the  city  sending  one 
member.  Ex-mayors  of  the  new  city  will  have  a  seat 
in  the  council,  but  no  vote,  and  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments seats  in  the  board  of  aldermen,  with  the  same 
restriction. 

The  municipal  assembly  wields  large  powers,  subject 
to  certain  checks  and  restrictions.  It  has  power  to 
establish  ferries  and  to  build  tunnels  under  and  bridges 
over  all  waters  within  the  city  limits,  to  build  docks 
and  improve  the  water  front,  to  open  and  extend  streets, 
construct  parks,  schoolhouses,  and  public  buildings,  and 
supply  water  and  the  means  of  rapid  transit  from  one 
quarter  of  the  city  to  another ;  but  its  acts  are  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  mayor,  and  to  pass  a  grant  of 


283 

any  public  franchise  over  his  veto  it  must  have  a  five- 
sixths  vote.  In  granting  franchises  the  approval  of  the 
board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  is  also  required. 
The  grant,  if  of  a  street  or  highway,  can  be  for  only 
twenty-five  years.  The  Assembly  cannot  authorize 
loans  or  issue  bonds  without  the  prior  approval  of  the 
above-named  board,  and  if  such  bond  issue  is  for  repav- 
ing  streets  it  must  be  unanimous.  It  may  also  establish 
additional  waterworks  and  acquire  property  for  the  pur- 
pose. It  must  consider  the  yearly  tax  budget  when 
prepared  by  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment, 
and  may  reduce  it,  but  cannot  increase  it.  It  has 
power  to  pass  all  necessary  laws  and  ordinances,  and 
must  see  that  these  are  faithfully  observed.  Contracts 
for  city  work  or  supplies  of  more  than  one  thousand 
dollars'  value  must  be  authorized  by  this  assembly  un- 
less it  otherwise  orders  by  a  three-fourths  vote. 

The  business  of  the  city  is  carried  on  by  the  mayor 
and  his  heads  of  departments.  The  mayor  is  elected 
for  a  term  of  four  years  by  the  whole  city,  and  appoints 
all  heads  of  departments,  except  the  comptroller,  who 
is  elected  by  the  people.  There  are  fourteen  depart- 
ments,— finance,  law,  police,  public  improvements, 
bridges,  parks,  buildings,  public  charities,  correction, 
fire,  docks  and  ferries,  taxes  and  assessments,  education, 
and  health, — besides  six  included  in  the  department 
of  public  works,  viz.,  water  supply,  highways,  street 
cleaning,  sewers,  public  buildings,  lighting  and  supplies. 

The  department  of  public  works  is  a  very  important 
one.  It  is  composed  of  the  heads  of  the  six  depart- 
ments above  enumerated,  together  with  a  president  of 


284 

the  board  (who  is  appointed  by  the  mayor).  The  mayor, 
comptroller,  corporation  counsel,  and  the  presidents  of 
the  five  boroughs  are  members  of  it  by  virtue  of  their 
office,  but  the  presidents  can  vote  only  upon  questions 
affecting  their  respective  boroughs.  This  board  has 
charge  of  all  the  streets,  bridges,  and  the  sewer  and 
water  systems  of  the  city.  It  must  take  the  first  step 
in  all  proposed  public  improvements,  but  if  the  work  be 
of  great  extent  it  must  also  have  the  approval  of  the 
board  of  estimate  and  apportionment.  All  work  ordered 
by  it  must  have  the  approval  of  the  municipal  assem- 
bly. This  board,  in  addition  to  its  other  powers,  may 
lay  out  new  streets  and  parks,  build  new  bridges  and 
tunnels  and  their  approaches,  change  the  grades  of 
streets,  and  so  forth. 

Another  very  important  board  is  that  of  estimate  and 
apportionment,  which  is  composed  of  the  mayor,  comp- 
troller, corporation  counsel,  president  of  the  council, 
and  president  of  the  board  of  taxes  and  assessments. 
Its  principal  duty  is,  before  January  i  of  each  year, 
to  make  a  ''budget,"  or  estimate  of  the  amount  of 
money  required  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  city 
during  the  ensuing  year.  It  must  also  provide  money 
to  meet  the  city's  obligations,  or  bonds,  as  they  become 
due,  and  pay  the  interest  on  the  same ;  also  audit 
charges  against  the  city  for  counsel's  fees  incurred  by 
city  officials  in  defending  themselves  against  unjust 
charges  ;  fix,  with  the  municipal  assembly,  the  salaries  of 
certain  employees,  transfer  excess  of  appropriations  from 
one  department  to  another,  and  perform  various  other 
minor  duties. 


285 

The  borough  boards  form  the  most  novel  feature  of 
the  new  charter.  These  boards  consist  of  a  president, 
who  is  elected  by  the  people  of  the  borough  for  a  term 
of  four  years,  and  the  members  of  the  municipal  assem- 
bly residing  within  the  borough  limits.  Each  borough 
is  divided  into  districts  of  local  improvement,  which 
are  the  same  as  the  Senate  districts  of  the  counties  ;  then 
each  of  these  districts  has  its  local  board,  composed  of 
the  members  of  the  municipal  assembly  residing  in  that 
district.  These  local  boards  have  power  to  begin  pro- 
ceedings in  all  cases  of  street  or  sewer  improvement 
within  their  district,  where  the  work  is  to  be  paid  for  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  assessments  on  the  property  of  that 
district.  They  can  also  recommend  the  laying  of  side- 
walks and  the  providing  of  street  lamps  and  signs.  They 
also  hear  complaints  of  nuisances  in  streets,  or  of  dis- 
orderly houses,  liquor  saloons,  gambling  houses,  and  the 
like,  and  may  inquire  as  to  the  condition  of  the  poor  in 
their  district.  When  a  petition  for  a  local  improvement 
is  presented  to  the  president  of  a  borough  board,  he 
must  call  a  meeting  of  the  local  board  within  fifteen 
days,  and  if  that  board  recommends  that  the  work  be 
done,  a  resolution  to  that  effect  must  be  adopted,  and  a 
copy  sent  to  the  department  of  public  improvements. 

On  January  i,  1898,  the  new  city  came  into  existence, 
with  Robert  A.  Van  Wyck,  who  had  been  elected  as  the 
candidate  of  the  Democratic  party  the  November  previ- 
ous, as  its  first  mayor. 

Before  closing  it  will  be  interesting  to  present  some 
statistics  of  Greater  New  York  in  comparison  with  Lon- 
don, Paris,  and  Berlin. 


286 

In  population  she  is  the  second  city  in  the  world, 
London  having  4,463,169  souls,^  Paris  2,51 1,629,  BerHn 
1,726,098,  New  York  3,389,753- 

In  area  she  is  the  first  city  in  the  world,  London 
having  74,672  acres,  Paris  19,279,  Berlin  15,662,  and 
New  York  193,850. 

In  public  parks  also  she  leads  the  cities  of  the  earth, 
New  York  having  6,587.52  acres,  London  5,976,  Paris 
4,739,  and  Berlin  1,637. 

She  has  1,002.34  miles  of  paved  streets,  London 
1,818,  Paris  604,  and  BerHn  500. 

She  has  1,156.21  miles  of  sewers  to  London's,  2,500,, 
Paris's  599,  BerHn's  465. 

She  has  531.84  miles  of  street  railroad,  London  none, 
Paris  24,  Berlin  225. 

The  assessed  value  of  her  real  estate  is  $2,377,277,- 
820;  London's,  $5,335,140,654. 

Her  net  bonded  debt  is  $185,081,850,  that  of  Lon- 
don $200,000,000,  of  Paris  $520,677,830,  of  Berlin 
$69,937,098. 

Her  annual  expenses  are  $60,000,000,  London's 
$65,000,000,  Paris's  $72,701,700,  Berlin's  $21,294,333. 

Her  daily  water  supply  is  330,000,000  gallons,  that  of 
London  203,000,000,  of  Paris  136,000,000,  of  Berlin 
30,000,000. 

1  Including  the  whole  metropolitan  district  London  has  6,291,677. 


XXVI.     BROOKLYN. 

FREQUENT  references  have  been  made  to  Brook- 
lyn in  the  preceding  narrative,  the  settlement  and 
growth  of  which  went  on  side  by  side  with  that  of 
New  York.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  West  India 
Company  was  to  buy  of  the  Indians  the  whole  western 
end  of  Long  Island.  As  early  as  1645  we  know  there 
were  farms  along  the  road  from  Flatbush  to  the  ferry. 


Brooklyn  City  Hall. 
287 


2^8 


By  1646  nearly  the  whole  water  front  had  been  cleared 
and  put  under  cultivation,  and  there  were  small  villages 
at  the  Wallabout,  the  ferry,  and  Gowanus. 

The  same  year  Kieft  ordered  an  election  for  two 
schepens,  or  aldermen,  for  "  Breuckelen,"  and  a  little 
later  a  schout,  or  constable.  The  Heights  early  became 
a  favorite  site  for  the  residences  of  the  gentry,  Philip 
Livingston  possessing  a  fine  mansion  on  the  east  side  of 
Hicks  Street,  near  Joralemon,  prior  to  1764. 

Brooklyn  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  18 16  (April 

12),  in  which  year 
the  first  public 
schoolhouse  was 
built.  It  was  not 
until  1834  that  it 
was  incorporated 
asa  city,  and  then 
against  the  stren- 
uous opposition 
of  the  assembly- 
men from  New 
York,  who  urged 
that  the  interests 
of  the  two  towns 
were  the  same, 
and  that  Brook- 
lyn ought  to  be 
one  with  New 
York.  At  this 
time  (1834)  the  country  road,  the  "King's  Highway" 
of  colonial  times,  ran  crookedly  up  the  hill  from  the 


Memorial  Arch,  Brooklyn. 


289 

"  ferry  slip "  (now  Fulton  Ferry),  past  an  old  Dutch 
church  set  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  on  through 
Bedford  and  Jamaica  to  Montauk  Point.  The  town  was 
then  well  built  up  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  present 
Main  and  Fulton  streets. 

Meantime  to  the  north  another  city  was  growing. 
Bushwick,  later  Williamsburgh,  and  later  still  the  East- 
ern District  of  Brooklyn,  was  settled  in  164 1 -1650  by  a 
few  Norman  immigrants,  who  in  March,  1660,  erected  a 
village,  defended  by  a  blockhouse,  on  a  point  of  land 
near  the  foot  of  the  present  South  Fifth  Street,  the  block- 
house being  intended  for  defense  against  Indians.  A 
month  before, fourteen  French  immigrants,with  a  Dutch- 
man to  teach  them  the  arts  of  pioneer  life,  had  settled 
near  the  present  site  of  Maspeth.  Bushwick  was  patented 
in  1687,  with  ^  population  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  souls ;  Williamsburgh  was  incorporated  in  April, 
1827;  and  that  city  and  Bushwick  were  annexed  to 
Brooklyn  in  April,  1854,  as  the  Eastern  District. 


TODD,   N.  Y.— 19 


XXVtt.   THE  BRONX. 

IN  two  respects  New  York  is  now  the  greatest  city 
in  the  world — in  area,  and  in  the  variety,  beauty, 
and  magnitude  of  her  pubHc  parks.  While  Central  Park 
and  Prospect  Park  are  the  pride  of  the  city,  it  is  not 
until  one  passes  over  the  Harlem  and  wanders  through 
the  miles  of  forests  and  meadows  of  Van  Cortlandt 
Park,  or  in  Bronx  Park  follows  the  clear  and  silvery 
waters  of  the  Bronx  to  the  wide  green  levels  of  Pelham 
Bay  Park,  with  its  cool  breezes  and  wide  views  of  the 
Sound,  that  one  appreciates  the  greatness  of  our  park 
system,  and  the  farsightedness  of  those  city  officials 
who,  about  1870,  began  the  movement  that  resulted  in 
the  acquiring  of  these  forest-clad  districts,  to  be  held 
forever  for  the  delight  and  well  being  of  the  people  of 
the  city. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park,  which  lies  nearest  the  Hudson 
and  extends  from  the  Yonkers  line  almost  to  Spuyten 
Duyvil,  is  two  miles  long  by  one  mile  wide,  and  contains 
1,132  acres.  Pelham  Bay  Park  exceeds  it,  however, 
having  1,756  acres,  while  Bronx  Park  falls  in  behind 
with  662  acres.  When  you  consider  that  Central  Park 
contains  but  840  acres,  and  Prospect  516^,  you  get 
a  better  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  these  later  parks. 
Van  Cortlandt  Park  comprises  part  of  the  famous  old 

290 


291 


The  Bronx. 


manor  of  Phillipseborough.  The  city  has  done  little 
more  to  improve  it  than  to  lay  out  good  roads  through 
its  forests  and  valleys. 

If,  on  leaving  Kingsbridge,  we  follow  the  bicyclers 
along  the  old  Albany  Post  Road  north,  we  shall  see, 
shortly  before  reaching  the  Yonkers  city  line,  the  old 
Van  Cortlandt  manor  house,  a  fine  old  mansion  stand- 
ing in  the  fields  on  our  left,  with  wide  lawns  in  front. 
It  occupies  the  site  of  a  blockhouse  erected  by  Gov- 
ernor Dongan  as  an  outpost  and  place  of  refuge  from 
the  Indians  for  hunting  and  scouting  parties.  Jacobus 
Van  Cortlandt  married  Eva  Phillipse,  daughter  of  Fred- 
erick, the  famous  lord  of  Phillipseborough,  and  his  son 
Frederick  built  the  present  mansion  in  1748,  as  you 
may  see  by  a  stone  on  the  southeast  corner.      It  is  now 


292 

the  property  of  the  city,  being  included  in  the  park, 
and  we  may  enter  freely.  Here  are  the  wide  halls,  the 
huge  fireplaces,  flanked  by  blue  tiles  bearing  pictures 


Van  Cortlandt  Manor  House. 


of  scriptural  scenes,  the  deep  window  seats  where  the 
young  people  found  quiet  retreats  and  their  elders 
smoked  and  gravely  talked  in  colonial  days. 

In  the  Revolution,  when  this  section  was  a  dark  and 
bloody  ground,  and  the  outposts  of  the  British  and 
patriot  armies  confronted  each  other  from  these  hill- 
tops, the  old  house  was  the  headquarters  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  German  yagers.  A  few  days  before 
the  British  left  New  York  forever,  on  Evacuation  Day, 
1783,  General  Washington  and  his  staff  took  up  their 


293 

abode  here,  the  general  making  it  his  headquarters 
until  he,  with  his  army,  occupied  the  city.  The  bed  in 
which  he  slept  is  still  preserved  in  the  old  house. 

Because  of  its  historical  interest,  the  Colonial  Dames  of 
the  State  of  New  York  secured  a  lease  of  it  for  twenty- 
five  years,  and  opened  tliere  a  very  interesting  collec- 
tion of  relics  of  the  Revolution  and  of  colonial  times. 

On  a  part  of  the  estate  is  still  shown  an  old  oak  on 
which  thirty  "cowboys"  were  hanged  during  the  Revo- 
lution. At  that  time  this  region  quite  over  to  the  Bronx, 
and  to  the  Sound  for  that  matter,  lay  "  between  the 
lines,"  and  was  ranged  over  and  harried  by  Tories  and 
patriots  alternately,  the  one  side  being  termed  "  cow- 
boys," and  the  other  '*  skinners."  First  the  Tories 
would  make  a  raid,  and  then  the  patriots  would  attack 
them  in  reprisal,  while  both  parties  plundered  the  peace- 
ful Quakers  without  mercy. -^  By  1779  these  people  had 
become  mere  marauding  bands,  plundering  both  Whig 
and  Tory  impartially,  and  in  January  of  that  year 
Colonel  Aaron  Burr  was  ordered  to  take  command  of 
the  "  lines,"  punish  the  marauders,  and  give  peace  to 
the  country.  He  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  task, 
and  did  what  others  had  not  been  able  to  do.  First 
he  drew  a  map  of  the  country,  showing  all  the  roads 
and  paths  by  which  the  culprits  could  escape.  Then 
he  made  a  list  of  all  the  inhabitants,  putting  each  in  his 
proper  class,  as  whig,  tory,  half  tory,  spy,  marauder, 
etc.,  and  when  an  outrage  was  committed  made  every 

1  In  Cooper's  fine  novel  of  "The  Spy"  you  will  find  spirited  accounts 
of  the  conflicts  between  cowboys  and  skinners,  with  graphic  descriptions 
of  the  country. 


294 

suspected  party  give  an  account  of  himself.  Then,  with 
his  men,  he  scouted  so  unceasingly,  watched  so  vigi- 
lantly, and  punished  so  sternly  that  the  bands  were  soon 
broken  up,  and  life  and  property  became  as  secure  as  in 
New  York  or  in  the  Continental  camp. 

There  are  several  smooth,  hard  roads  leading  eastward 
into  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Bronx.  From  its  en- 
trance into  the  Sound  at  Hunts  Point,  back  through 
Westchester,  Bronx  Park,  Woodlawn,  Mount  Vernon, 
Bronxville,  Tuckahoe,  and  White  Plains  (where  the 
battle  was  fought),  to  its  source  in  the  hills  this  side  of 
the  Croton  divide,  it  presents  every  variety  of  sylvan 
and  pastoral  scenery,  in  such  striking  contrast  with  the 
works  and  homes  of  men  as  to  be  a  source  of  constant 
surprise  and  delight. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John,  arrives  in  New  York, 
195;  receives  Washington,  197. 

Allerton,  Isaac,  58. 

American  Fur  Company,  233. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  75 ;  appointed 
governor,  78 ;  received,  81. 

Anne   Queen,  accession  of,  103. 

Antill,  John,  143. 

Apthorpe  house,  179,  180. 

Archangel,  90. 

Arnold,  Isaac,  95. 

Assembly,  first  Provincial,  79. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  230. 

Auchmuty,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  143. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  229. 

Baptists,  42. 

Barlow,  Joel,  216. 

Barrett,  Walter,  quoted,  238. 

Bath  Beach,  153. 

Battery,  the,  in  1830,  265. 

Battle  Hill  in  Greenwood,  168. 

Bayard,  Judith,  51. 

Bayard,  Nicholas,  47,  83,  87,  113;  im- 
prisoned, 90;  released,  94. 

Bayard,  Samuel,  143. 

Bayard,  Colonel  William,  143. 

Bear  hunt,  a,  no. 

Beaver,  the,  91. 

Bedford,  156,  157. 

Bell,  farmers',  67. 

Bellomont,  Earl  of,  76, 113;  appointed 
governor,  loi. 

Betsy,  pioneer  trading  ship,  236. 

Binckes,  Admiral,  77. 

Black  Ball  line,  241. 

Block,  Adriaen,  discovers  Long 
Island  Sound,  11. 

Bogardus,  Domine,  death  of,  38. 

Borough  of  the  Bronx,  290. 

Boston  Post  Road,  described,  176. 

Bowling  Green,  62,  67. 

Box,  Fort,  155. 

Bradford,  Governor,  claims  Dutch 
soil,  19. 

Bradford,  William,  printer,  104. 


Bridge  Street  and  bridge,  60. 

Broad  Street,  60;  in  1700,  121. 

Broadway,  laid  out,  73;  in  1700,  112. 

Bronx  Park,  290. 

Brooklyn,  history  of,  287. 

Brooklyn  church,  156. 

Brooklyn  Heights,  153. 

Buchanan,  Thomas,  144. 

Burnet.  William,  76. 

Burr,  Major  Aaron,  aide  to  Putnam, 
159  ;  rescues  part  of  Putnam's  army, 
181;  duel  with  Hamilton,  204-207; 
subdues  cowboys  and  skinners,  293. 

Canal  Street  in  1820,  261. 

Capitol,  first,  197. 

Carleton,  General,  160. 

Carpesey,   Gabriel,   town   herdsman, 

Castle  Garden,  266. 

Central  Park,  271. 

Chambers,  Captain,  148-150. 

Charles,  King,  death  of,  80. 

Charter,  Great,  81,  82. 

Charier  of  Liberties  and  Privileges, 
80. 

Charter  of  New  Amsterdam,  38;  city 
proclaimed,  39. 

China  trade,  232. 

Church  going  in  New  Amsterdam,  68. 

Church  service,  70,  71. 

City  Hall,  new,  121 ;  used  as  an  arse- 
nal, 151 ;  built,  263. 

City  Hall  Park,  66 ;  in  1830,  263. 

City  wall  (second),  117. 

Civil  War,  outbreak  of,  250-254. 

Clermont,  215. 

CUnton,  De  Witt,  221,  226. 

Clinton,  George,  76,  193. 

Clipper  ships,  242. 

Coast  Road,  157. 

Coffeehouses,  131. 

Colden,  Lieutenant  Governor,  139, 143. 

Collect,  the,  118. 

Columbia  College,  founded,  107. 

Colyer,  Vincent,  255. 


a9S 


296 


Committee  of  Correspondence,  ap- 
pointed, 139. 

Common,  public  meetings  on,  146. 

Coney  Island,  153. 

Congress,  first  sits  in  New  York,  195  ; 
removes  to  Philadelphia,  202. 

Continental  uniforms,  157. 

Cooper,  Rev.  Dr.  Myles,  143. 

Cooper's,  Peter,  store,  262. 

Corn  bury,  Lord,  76. 

Cortelyou,  Jacques,  112. 

Cortelyou  house,  170. 

Cosby,  Alexander,  123. 

Cosby,  William,  governor,  76, 120;  or- 
ders trial  of  Zenger,  105. 

Craft,  colonial,  56,  57. 

Cregier,  Marten,  63. 

Croton  water,  introduced,  268. 

Cruger,  John  H.,  143. 

Cunard,  Samuel,  founds  Cunard  line, 
249. 

Cuyler,  Lieutenant,  85. 

Damen,  Jan  Jansen,  74. 

De  Hart,  Simon,  112. 

De  Lancey,  Chief  Justice,  James,  tries 

Zenger,  105,  113. 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western 

Railroad,  229. 
Dellius,  Domine,  land  grant  to,  102. 
De  Peyster,  Captain,  85. 
De  Riemer,  Isaac,  113,  122. 
Dircksen,  Cornells,  72. 
Dix,  Dorothea  L.,  255. 
Dix,  John  A.,  254. 
Docks,  city,  55,  124. 
Dolphin,  the,  7. 
Dongan,  Thomas,  75,  85;  appointed 

governor,  79. 
Dress  in  1700,  112. 
Duane,  James,  193. 
Dudley,  Chief  Justice,  presides  at  trial 

of  Leisler,  95. 
Duke's  Farm,  74. 
Duke's  Laws,  76. 
Dunmore,  Earl  of,  76. 
Dunscomb,  165. 
Dutch,  capture  New  York,  "jj. 
Dutch,  description  of,  9,  10. 
Dutch  bed,  ^. 
Dutch  church,  112. 
Dutch  dress,  69. 
Dutch  manners  and  customs,  52-57. 

East  India  Company,  Dutch,  the,  10. 
East  New  York.  156. 
East  River  Bridge,  275. 
Eastern  Boulevard,  the,  153. 
Eelkens,  Jacob,  arrives  in  trading  ship 

William,   24 ;    ordered    away,    25 ; 

removed  by  the  Dutch,  27. 


English,  capture  Manhattan,  49;  dis- 
cover New  York  Bay,  10 ;  claim 
Manhattan,  19. 

Erie  Canal,  account  of,  220  ;  celebra- 
tion at  opening  of,  222,  223. 

Erie  Railroad,  opened,  228, 

Evergreen  Cemetery,  165. 

Evertsen,  Admiral,  'jt. 

Ferry  ordinances,  72. 

Ferryboats,  134. 

Fire  company,  118. 

Fire  department,  133. 

Fire  engines,  133. 

Fish,  67. 

Fish,  Nicholas,  159. 

Fitz  Roy,  Lord  Augustus,  122. 

Flatbush,  156. 

Flatlands,  153. 

Fletcher,  Benjamin,  76;  appointed 
governor,  99;  founds  Trinity 
Church,  100;  scandal  against,  100; 
recalled,  loi ;  demands  a  trial,  102. 

Fort,  the,  62. 

Fortifications  of  New  York,  174. 

Fraunces's  Tavern,  149. 

Fredericke,  Kryn,  18. 

Freedom  of  the  city,  conferred,  123. 

Freeman,  Thomas,  123. 

Fulton,  Robert,  sketch  of,  215. 

Fulton  Ferry,  52,  71. 

Fur  trade,  Canada,  231, 

Gage,  Thomas,  General,  143. 
Game,  66. 

Gas,  introduced  into  New  York,  267. 
"Gazette,"   first  newspaper  in   New 

York,  103. 
George,  Fort,  119;  garrison  of,  119. 
George  III.,  statue  of,  260. 
Gilliland,  165. 

Governors  of  New  York  colony,  75. 
Gowanus  Canal,  153,  and  Creek,  155. 
Graft  officer,  60. 
Grange,  the,  208. 
Gravesend,  156. 
Gravesend  Bay,  153,  162. 
Greene,  Fort,  156. 
Greene,  General,  158. 
Greenwood  Cemetery,  153,  156. 
Griffiths,  John,  143. 
Griswold,  N.  L.  &  G.,  237. 

Hale,  Nathan,  executed,  187. 

Half  Moon,  enters  New  York  Bay,  9. 

Halfway  House,  William  Howard's, 

165. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  159,  204  ;  death 

of,  209  ;  sketch  of,  210,  211. 
Hamilton,   Andrew,  defends  Zenger, 

106. 


297 


Hamilton,  Fort,  153,  162. 

Hardy,  Sir  Charles,  76  ;   lays  corner 

stone  of  Columbia  College,  108. 
Harlem  Heights,  174,  175  ;  described, 

181  ;  battle  of,  182-184. 
Heath.  General,  158. 
Heights  of  Guana,  156,  157. 
Henclrik,  Fort  William,  78. 
"  Herald,"  founded,  264. 
Hessians,  arrive,  160. 
Hicks,  Jasper,  95. 
Hoogland,  165. 
Horsmanden,  Daniel,  143. 
Howe,  Sir  William,  invests  New  York, 

152  ;  offers  amnesty,  160. 
Howland  &  Aspinwall,  236. 
Hudson,  Henry,  discovers  New  York 

Bay,  JO. 
Hudson  Bay  Fur  Company,  231. 
Hunter,  Robert,  76. 

Indians,  sell  Manhattan  Island,  15  ; 
trade  with  Dutch,  18  ;  attack  Dutch, 
30;  submit,  32;  attack  Manhattan, 
41  ;  hunting  party  of,  66. 

Ingoldsby,  Richard,  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor, 90;  arrives,  91,  92;  demands 
surrender  of  fort,  93,  94 ;  tries  Leisler, 

95- 
Irving,  Washington,  235. 

Jamaica,  156,  157. 

Jamaica  Pass,  unguarded,  164. 

James,  Kort,  'jt. 

James,  King,  80. 

Jans,   Annetje,    farm,    74 ;    given    to 

Trinity  Church,  103. 
Johnson,  Samuel,  president  Columbia 

College,  107. 
Johnson,  Thomas,  95. 
"Journal,  Holt's,"  quoted,  147. 
Jumel  mansion,  182. 

Kidd,  Captain,  account  of,  126. 

Kieft,  Wilhelm,  chosen  director,  28  ; 
arrival,  29  ;  becomes  dictator,  30 ; 
at  war  with  Indians,  31,  32;  calls  a 
council,  31 ;  recalled,  34  ;  prosecutes 
his  accusers,  37  ;  death,  38. 

King's  Farm,  74;  given  to  Trinity 
Church,  103. 

King's  Highway,  156. 

Kip,  Abraham,  117. 

Knowlton,  Colonel  Thomas,  182. 

Knox,  General,  158. 

Kuyter,  Joachim  Pietersen,  37,  38. 

Labadists,  the,  quoted,  in. 
Lafayette,  arrival  in  New  York.  266. 
I^amb,  John,  144,  151. 
Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  229. 


Leisler,  Jacob,  84 ;  seizes  government, 
86 ;  trial  of,  95 ;  death  of,  97 ;  estate 
restored,  98,  loi. 

Leitch,  Major,  183. 

L' Enfant,  Pierre,  remodels  capitol, 
197. 

Le  Roux,  Charles,  123. 

Liberty  pole,  erected,  145 ;  causes  a 
riot,  146. 

Lind,  Jenny,  266. 

Livingston,  Phillip  and  Robert,  162. 

Livingston,  Robert,  127,  217. 

Lockyer,  Captain,  147. 

London,  tea  ship,  148. 

Long  Island,  battle  of,  159-170; 
British  troops  in,  159  ;  British  com- 
manders in,  159;  American  position, 
163;  British  position,  162, 163;  British 
advance,  164;  British  attack  Ameri- 
can rear,  166;  retreat  from,  172. 

Long  Island  City,  280. 

Loockermans,  Govert,  58. 

Lovelace,  Francis,  76 ;  governor,  77. 

Lutherans,  42. 

Mackinaw  Fur  Company,  231. 

Magaw,  Colonel  Robert,  184. 

Maiden  Lane.  53. 

Manhattan  Island,  described,  14;  pur- 
chased, 15  ;  first  settled,  13. 

Manning,  Captain,  77. 

Markets  of  New  York,  129. 

Martense  Lane,  157. 

Massacre,  Boston,  147. 

McComb  mansion,  202. 

McDougall,  Alexander,  144. 

Megapolensis,  Domine,  48. 

Melyn,  Cornelis,  37,  38. 

Merchants'  Exchange,  first,  61. 

Merchants,  great,  of  New  York,  58, 
238. 

Merrymaking  in  New  York,  119. 

Michaelis,  Rev.  Jonas,  arrives,  18. 

Millborne,  Jacob,  84 ;  trial  of,  95 ; 
death  of,  97  ;  estate  restored,  loi. 

Minuit,  Peter,  first  governor  of  New 
Netherlands,  arrives.  14;  purchases 
island.  15  ;  his  powers,  16,  and  gov- 
ernment, 17;  communicates  with 
Governor  Bradford,  19;  recalled,  22. 

Minvielle,  Gabriel,  113. 

Mohawk  and  Hudson  Railroad,  228. 

Mohawk  Indians,  declare  against 
Leisler,  97. 

Mohawks  of  New  York,  147,  149. 

Monckton,  Robert,  76. 

Montague's  Tavern,  146. 

Montgom«*ry,  Lord  John,  76. 

Moore,  Sir'  Henry,  76,  144 ;  orders 
soldiers  to  keep  the  peace,  146 ; 
mentioned,  147. 


298 


Morningside  Park,  271. 
Murray's  Wharf,  150. 

Nancy,  first  tea  ship,  147,  148. 

Navy  Yard,  153. 

Negro  plot,  116. 

New  Amsterdam,  settled,  14;  captured 
by  the  English,  43  ;  manners  and 
customs  in,  52 ;  population  of,  in 
1664,  74, 

New  Orange,  78. 

Newspaper  extracts,  116. 

New  Utrecht,  112,  156. 

New  Year's  observances,  no. 

New  York,  taken  by  the  English  and 
named,  43-49 ;  attacked  by  Dutch, 
77;  bounds  of,  79;  joined  to  New 
England,  81 ;  under  British  rule, 
109 ;  attacked  by  British,  179 ;  re- 
treat from,  181 ;  captured  by  British, 
179,  181 ;  in  1776,  176 ;  in  captivity, 
186;  great  fire  in,  186;  evacuated  by 
British,  192 ;  first  capital,  195 ;  offi- 
cial life  in,  1789-1790,  200  ;  no  longer 
the  capital,  202  ^commercial  growth, 
214 ;  in  Civil  War,  254 ;  in  1783,  272  ; 
in  1830,  272;  in  1850,  273;  in  1865, 
274 ;  in  1870,  276 ;  part  of  West- 
chester County  annexed,  277 ;  con- 
solidation of,  279 ;  charter  of,  280 ; 
compared  with  London,  Paris,  and 
Berlin,  286. 

New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River 
Railroad,  229. 

New  York  Historical  Society,  sketch 
of,  212. 

Nicholson,  Lieutenant  Governor,  83  ; 
sails  for  England,  86;  appointed 
lieutenant  governor  of  Virginia,  89. 

NicoUs,  Colonel  Richard,  captures 
Manhattan,  43-49  ;  mentioned,  75. 

NicoUs,  William,  90  ;  released,  94. 

Noell,  Thomas,  assumes  mayoralty, 
122. 

Northwest  Fur  Company,  231. 

Ocean  Parkway,  153. 
Orange,  Fort,  26. 
Ordinances,  Dutch,  64. 
Osborne,  Sir  Danvers,  76. 
Osgood  mansion,  202. 

Packet  ships,  240. 

Park  Theater,  263. 

Parties  in   New  York,  143;  after  the 

Revolution,  203 
Patroons,  established,  20. 
Pauw,    Michael    dc,    22 ;    purchases 

Staten  Island,  22. 
Pear  tree,  Stuy  vesant's,  50. 
Pearl  Street,  52. 


Pelham  Bay  Park,  290. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad,  229. 

Phillipse,  Adolph,  128. 

Phillipse,  Frederick,  83 ;  justice,  105. 

Phillipse  manor  house,  83. 

Pinhorn,  recorder,  95. 

Pirates   and  privateersmen,  100,  loi, 

124  ;  names  of  their  vessels,  125. 
Plays  in  New  York,  134. 
Ploughman,  collector,  85. 
Prison  ships,  188. 

Prisons,  military,  in  New  York,  188. 
Prospect  Park,  153,  156. 
Public  parks,  270,  290. 
Putnam,  Fort,.  156. 
Putnam,    Israel,   in  New  York,  152, 

158  ;  succeeds  Sullivan,  163. 

Quackenbos,  Walter,  146. 
Quakers,  the,  42. 

Rapalje,  Sarah,  19. 
Rasieres,  Isaac  de,  20. 
Red  Lion  Tavern,  157,  164. 
Rensselaerwyck,  founded,  21. 
Revolution,  first  blood  of,  spilled  in 

New  York,  147. 
Riot,  Draft,  in  New  York,  256-258. 
Riverside  Park,  271. 
Robinson,  John,  no. 
Robinson,  Sir  Robert,  95. 
Rogers,  Captain  Moses,  246. 

Saint  Mark's  Church,  founded,  51. 

Scott,  John  Morin,  144. 

Sea  Mew,  the,  14. 

Seal  of  New  Amsterdam,  40. 

Sears,  Isaac,  144,  146,  151. 

Servants,  116. 

Shoemakers  Creek,  165. 

Slaves,  negro,  ii6. 

Sloughter,     Henry,     75 ;     appointed 

governor,  89  ;  arrives  in  New  York, 

93  ;  death,  99. 
Smit,  Claes,  31. 
Smith,  Colonel  William,  95  ;  defends 

Zenger,  105. 
Smith, William,  historian,  quoted,  109. 
Sons  of   Liberty,   144,    146,   147;    in 

control  of  New  York,  152. 
Spencer,  General,  158. 
Staats,  Dr.  Samuel,  113. 
Stadt  Huys,  built  by  Kieft,  34,  55. 
Stages,  Broadway,  259. 
Stamp  Act,  136. 
Stamp  Act  riot,  the,  140. 
Steamboats,  215  ;  invented,  217. 
Steamers,  the  first,  246.  ? 

Steenwyck,  Cornelis,  46,58. 
Stirhng;  Fort,  155. 
Street  car  lines,  268. 


299 


Street  venders,  i8qo,  265. 

Stoll,  Sergeant,  86. 

Stores  and  merchants  of  New  York, 
1705,  128. 

Stuyvesant,  Petrus,  chosen  director, 
34;  character,  35;  arrival,  35,  36; 
gives  charter,  38,  and  seal,  40 ;  at- 
tacks the  Swedes,  41 ;  placates  the 
Indians,  42  ;  yields  to  the  English, 
49 ;  death,  49 ;  mentioned,  70. 

Sugarhouse,  188. 

Sullivan,  General,  158 ;  his  troops  en- 
gaged, 167. 

"  Sun,"  founded,  264. 

"  Swamp,"  the,  118. 

Tammany  Hall,  264. 

Tammany  Society,  sketch  of,  212. 

Tea  ships,  the,  138. 

Tea  Party,  Boston's,  147. 

Tea  Party,  New  York's,  147. 

Theaters,  134. 

"  Times,"  founded,  264. 

"  Tribune,"  founded,  264. 

Trinity  Church,  endowed,  74  ;  opened, 
112  ;  account  of,  123. 

Tryon,  Sir  William,  76  ;  character  of, 
147 ;  in  England,  151 ;  returns  to 
New  York,  152. 

Tupper,  Benjamin,  commands  whale- 
boat  fleet,  159,  160. 

Tweed  Ring,  276. 

Union  Defense  Committee,  organized, 
254- 

Van  Cortlandt,  Stephanas,  mayor,  83, 
87,  88. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park,  290, 

Van  Cortlandt  manor  house,  291. 

Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  217,  218. 

Van  der  Grist,  schepen,  wounded  by 
Indians,  41. 

Vanderveer,  Pieter  Comelissen,  58. 

Van  Dinclage,  36,  37. 

Van  Dyck,  Hendrik,  32. 

Van  Dyck,  ex-sheriff,  killed  by  Indi- 
ans, 41. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Kiliaen,  21. 


Van  Twiller,  Wouter,  chosen  direct- 
or, 23 ;  described,  23;  his  arrival,  24 ; 
attaclcs  the  English,  27, 28  ;  removed, 
28. 

Van  Wagener,  165. 

Vauxhall  Gardens,  262. 

Verrazano,  Jean,  discovers  Bay  of 
New  York,  7. 

Vlie  boats,  63. 

Vries,  De,  patroon,  24;  purchases 
Staten  Island,  28 ;  his  plantation 
ravaged  by  Indians,  30,  42. 

Walk  down  Broadway,  259. 

Wall,  city,  53. 

Wall  Street,  53. 

Wallabout  Bay,  155. 

Walloon  yeomen,  71. 

Walloons,  settle  New  Netherlands,  13. 

Washington,  passes  through  New 
York,  152 ;  takes  command  on  Long 
Island,  169 ;  retreats  from  Long 
Island,  172  ;  takes  leave  of  his  offi- 
cers, 193 ;  inaugurated,  196 ;  his 
levees,  202. 

Washington,  Fort,  184. 

Washington  Park,  153. 

West  India  Company,  described,  12, 

West  Shore  Railroad,  229, 

Whaleboat  fleet,  159. 

Whitehall  Street,  61. 

Whitehall  mansion,  61. 

Willett,  Marinus,  144. 

William  of  Orange,  king,  81  ;  ap- 
proves Leisler's  sentence,  98  ;  death 
of,  103. 

William  Henry,  Fort,  122. 

Williamsburgh,  289. 

Winthrop,  Governor,  46,  77. 

Wolves,  bounty  on,  64. 

Woman's  Central  Relief  Association, 

255- 
Wooley,  Rev.  James,  quoted,  no. 
"  World. "  founded  264. 

Young,  John,  95. 

Zenger,  John  Peter,  founds  "  Weekly 
Journal,"  104 ;  trial  of,  for  libel, 
105 ;  acquitted,  107. 


A  School  History 

of  the  United  States 

By  John  Bach  McMaster 

Professor   of   American  History   in    the  University   of 
Pennsylvania. 

Linen,  i2mo,  507  pages.     With  maps  and  illustrations      ,         .      $i.OO 

This  new  history  of  our  country  is  marked  by  many 
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encouraged  to  follow  the  best  methods  of  studying  history 
as  a  connected  growth  of  ideas  and  institutions,  and  not  a 
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and  of  its  population  at  different  periods,  while  the 
pictures  on  almost  every  page  illustrate  different  phases  in 
the  civil  and  domestic  life  of  the  people. 


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Fisher's  Brief  History  of  the  Nations 

AND   OF  THEIR    PROGRESS    IN    CIVILIZATION 
By  GEORGE  PARK  FISHER,  LL.D. 

Professor  in  Yale  University 

Cloth,  12mo,  613  pages,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  Maps,  Tables,  and 
Reproductions  of  Bas-reliefs,  Portraits,  and  Paintings.    Price,  $1 .50 


This  is  an  entirely  new  work  written  expressly  to  meet 
the  demand  for  a  compact  and  acceptable  text-book  on 
General  History  for  high  schools,  academies,  and  private 
schools.  Some  of  the  distinctive  qualities  which  will  com- 
mend this  book  to  teachers  and  students  are  as  follows: 

It  narrates  in  fresh,  vigorous,  and  attractive  style  the 
most  important  facts  of  history  in  their  due  order  and 
connection. 

It  explains  the  nature  of  historical  evidence,  and  records 
only  well  established  judgments  respecting  persons  and 
events. 

It  delineates  the  progress  of  peoples  and  nations  in 
civilization  as  well  as  the  rise  and  succession  of  dynasties. 

It  connects,  in  a  single  chain  of  narration,  events  related 
to  each  other  in  the  contemporary  history  of  different 
nations  and  countries. 

It  gives  special  prominence  to  the  history  of  the 
Mediaeval  aii4  Modern  Periods,  —  the  eras  of  greatest 
import  to  modern  students. 

It  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  the  present,  and 
incorporates  the  latest  discoveries  of  historical  explorers 
and  writers. 

It  is  illustrated  by  numerous  colored  maps,  genealog- 
ical tables,  and  artistic  reproductions  of  architecture, 
sculpture,  painting,  and  portraits  of  celebrated  men, 
representing  every  period  of  the  world's  history. 


Copies  of  Fisher's  Brief  History  of  the  Nations  will  be  sent  prepaid  to 
any  address^  on  receipt  of  the  price y  by  the  Publishers  : 

American   Book  Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

(43) 


Carpenter's  Geographical  Readers 

By  Frank  G.  Carpenter 

North  America.     Cloth,  i2mo,  352  pages  .         .    60  cents 
Asia.     Cloth,  i2mo,  304  pages  .         .         .         .60  cents 

This  series  of  Geographical  Readers  is  intended  to 
describe  the  several  continents,  —  their  countries  and 
peoples,  from  the  standpoint  of  travel  and  personal 
observation. 

They  are  not  mere  compilations  from  other  books,  or 
stories  of  imaginary  travels,  but  are  based  on  actual  travel 
and  personal  observation.  The  author,  who  is  an  experi- 
enced traveler  and  writer,  has  given  interesting  and  viva- 
cious descriptions  of  his  recent  extended  journeys  through 
each  of  the  countries  described,  together  with  graphic 
pictures  of  their  native  peoples,  just  as  they  are  found 
to-day  in  their  homes  and  at  their  work.  This  has  been 
done  in  such  simple  language  and  charming  manner  as  to 
make  each  chapter  as  entertaining  as  a  story. 

The  books  are  well  supplied  with  colored  maps  and 
illustrations,  the  latter  mostly  reproductions  from  original 
photographs  taken  by  the  author  on  the  ground.  They 
combine  studies  in  geography  with  stories  of  travel  and 
observation  in  a  manner  at  once  attractive  and  instructive. 
Their  use  in  connection  with  the  regular  text-books  on 
geography  and  history  will  impart  a  fresh  and  living 
interest  to  their  lessons. 


Copies  of  Carpenter  s  Geographical  Reader  will  be  sent  prepaid  to  any 
address,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by  the  Publishers  : 

American   Book  Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

(47) 


The  Natural  Geographies     , 

Natural   Elementary  Geography 

Linen  Binding,  Quarto,  144  pages         ,         .         .     Price,  60  cents 

Natural  Advanced   Geography 

Linen  Binding,  Large  Quarto,  160  pages  .  .  Price,  $1  25 
By  Jacques  W.  Redway,  F.R.G.S,,  and  Russell  Kinman,  Author 
of  the  Eclectic  Physical  Geography. 

The  publication  of  The  Natural  Geographies  marks  a  new  era 
in  the  study  and  teaching  of  geography.  Some  of  the  distinctive  features 
which  characterize  this  new  series  are  : 

1.  A  Natural  Plan  of  Development,  based  on  physical  geography  and 

leading  in  a  natural  manner  to  the  study  of  historical,  industrial, 
and  commercial  geography. 

2.  Clear  and  distinct  political  maps  showing  correctly  the  comparative 

size  of  different  countries,  and  physical  maps  showing  relief  by 
contour  lines  and  different  colors,  as  in  the  best  government  maps. 

3.  Inductive  and  comparative  treatment  of  subjects  according  to  the 

most  approved  pedagogical  principles. 

4.  Frequent   exercises   and   reviews    leading   to    the    correlation    and 

comparison  of  the  parts  of  the  subject  already  studied. 

5.  Topical  outlines  for  the  language  work  required  by  the  Courses  of 

Study  of  the  best  schools. 

6.  Supplementary  Exercises  including  laboratory  work  and  references 

for  collateral  reading. 

7.  Numerous  original  and  appropriate  pictures  and  graphic  diagrams 

to  illustrate  the  text. 

8.  Clear  explanations  of  each  necessary  term  where  it  first  occurs,  and 

omission  of  formal  definitions  at  the  beginning  of  the  book. 

9.  Strict  accordance,  in  method  and  treatment,  with  the  recommenda- 

tions of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen. 


Illustrated  Circulars  describing  the  plan  and  method  of 
the  Natural  Geographies  will  be  sent  free  to  any  address  on 
application. 

Copies  of  the  Natural  Geographies  will  be  sent^  prepaid^  to  any 
address  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  Publishers : 

American   Book  Company 

NEW  YORK  •  CINCINNATI  •  CHICAGO 


Pupils'  Outline  Studies 

IN  THE 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY 

FRANCIS  H.WHITE,  A.M. 
'Paper,  Square  Octavo,  128  pages  •  •  Price,  30  cents 


This  is  a  book  of  Outline  Studies,  Maps  and  Blanks, 
intended  for  use  in  connection  with  the  study  of  United 
States  History.  It  contains  an  original  and  systematic 
combination  of  devices  consisting  of  outline  maps,  graphic 
charts,  and  blanks  for  historical  tables  and  summaries,  for 
the  reproduction  of  pictures,  for  biographical  sketches,  for 
studies  in  civil  government,  etc.  It  also  contains  valuable 
suggestions  to  teachers  and  pupils,  and  carefully  selected 
lists  of  historical  books  and  authorities  for  collateral  reading 
and  reference. 

Its  use  will  encourage  the  pupil  to  observe  closely,  to 
select  the  leading  and  salient  facts  of  history,  to  classify  his 
knowledge,  to  investigate  for  himself,  and  to  carry  his  inves- 
tigations up  to  recognized  authorities  and  even  to  original 
sources.  It  also  furnishes  opportunity  and  material  for  the 
best  exercises  and  training  in  English  Composition. 

The  book  is  conveniently  arranged  for  either  class  or 
individual  instruction  and  may  be  used  in  connection  with 
any  text-book  on  United  States  History. 


Copies  of  White's  Pupils'  Outline  Studies  will  be  sent  prepaid  to  any 
address^  on  receipt  of  the  price ^  by  the  Publishers: 

American   Book   Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

(28) 


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